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Workspaces / Virtual Desktops – do you use them on your laptop, desktop, or both?

About 4 years ago I got a 13.3" Thinkpad laptop to replace an old Chromebook for portable development, and installed Arch + i3 on it (btw). After a bit of ricing the configs, it started feeling really homey. I love using workspaces here! They feel perfectly suited for laptop screens which have minimal space, allowing me to keep my browser full-screen and my IDE full-screen while still quickly switching back and forth to reference one or the other.

On the other hand, I don’t really use workspaces when I’m on my desktop PC (I use a 27" monitor). I just installed KDE to get ahead of the Windows 10 EOL, and while I looked into combining i3 and KDE, I haven’t really felt the need for i3’s workspaces or using KDE’s virtual desktops. With a 27" monitor, I feel like there’s enough space to split my browser and IDE half-and-half on screen, and I’m ok using a file browser or terminal window as floating windows. Another consideration is that I’m always using a mouse on my desktop, so switching between workspaces with the keyboard wouldn’t feel as natural.

What about you? Do you use workspaces differently between devices? Does screen size affect your choices at all?

gzrrt ,
@gzrrt@kbin.social avatar

Always, because you get to assign keyboard shortcuts to each one (and then use each one for a dedicated purpose). Much faster workflow than alt-tabbing your way through an arbitary list of programs.

j4k3 ,
@j4k3@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t like workspaces. It may be due to my asymmetric vision, but I need to have two or more screens with the data I’m going back and forth with. With hobbyist embedded stuff like Arduino, I need the datasheet and IDE side by side to be effective and laptop screens are too small for tiling IMO, even my 17’s (1080p) don’t cut it. Maybe my next with a higher resolution will be better.

surrendertogravity OP ,
@surrendertogravity@wayfarershaven.eu avatar

Makes sense! I agree laptops tend to be too small for tiling; I don’t really use the tiling part of i3 on my laptop very much - usually only to pop open a terminal window on the side that I close after a few minutes.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

I use a 28" inch 4K screen and I regularly use virtual desktops for various kinds of things. I don’t think monitor size and/or resolution affects me at all. I did the same on a 22" 1080p screen.

On extended sessions of zoning out the whole night When doing some important coding late in the evening sometimes 3-4 desktops are plastered with windows – editors in different files at different positions, browsers for research, multiple terminal emulators, and at least one desktop only having one browser open on YouTube playing a random music playlist from my main page.

All seemingly random placed and resized, but to me it all makes absolute sense.

surrendertogravity OP ,
@surrendertogravity@wayfarershaven.eu avatar

It’s so interesting the different ways people organize their windows! I have a strong preference for never overlapping windows where possible at home, but on my work computer it happens all the time and I don’t mind. Each window definitely has its own “zone” on the screen though (browser in the upper left, slack in the bottom right, finder in the bottom middle, and so forth).

dartanjinn ,

I use workspaces regularly. Typically a browser in one, terminal in one, and the third is where I put whatever else I’m currently working with which could be dolphin and maybe gimp or an IDE, whatever the other is might be in the moment but browser and full screen terminal in separate workspaces are daily standard.

everett ,

Workspaces might be a bit overkill if you’re only switching between two-ish windows. For more you might find a benefit to using workspaces, especially if you group windows related to specific tasks, or if your brain likes having windows “stored” spatially.

PlexSheep ,
@PlexSheep@feddit.de avatar

Yes. I love them. For laptops that are not currently connected to more screens invaluable, for other usecases with more monitors, very useful

ablackcatstail ,
@ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com avatar

Virtual Desktops haven’t really been a thing that I’ve really needed in my work flow. Maybe one day I will give using one a shot. I actually prefer my current setup with dual 27" monitors.

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