

Why don't Macs support multiple monitors? - nasalter
http://cafe.elharo.com/ui/why-dont-macs-support-multiple-monitors/

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tumult
"Maybe if I make my title sensational enough, people will actually read my
stupid blog post about a nitpick that most other people would probably
consider to be a good design choice."

~~~
hitonagashi
Well, it might be a sensationalist article, but it does bug me that mac's
don't have the menu bar on the second monitor. To me, I rarely use it, I just
find the disjunction between the screens slightly jarring...

I can understand that it might be far more hassle than it's worth to support
and code, but what might be a good design reason for not putting it on other
monitors?

~~~
tumult
It wastes space and then you have to think about a way to display two separate
items which represent the same data but which can be in different states.

If you're using the menu bar so much that having it on the other screen causes
you to be unable to use the second display, you should consider learning
keyboard shortcuts for the menu items instead of clicking on them manually
each time. They should be labeled in an application's menus, if it follows Mac
design guidelines (and common sense.)

~~~
MaysonL
And with Snow Leopard, you can assign your own keyboard shortcuts - and
they'll even show up in the menus! System Preferencea->Keyboard=>Keyboard
Shortcuts->Application Shortcuts (click on the plus sign)

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makecheck
I can see the point of the writer; but at the same time, if I _was_ double-
full-screening, as shown in the post's screenshots, I would choose to hide the
menu bar too! (For instance, I can double-full-screen terminals, and set the
menu bar to auto-hide.)

If I'm _not_ in pure full-screen mode, I actually find it distinctly un-Mac-
like to force windows to use up every last pixel of space. That's kind of the
point...the Mac's document-centered focus, ability to hide apps, use Exposé,
and yes, menu bar, make it far easier to have 12 completely unrelated things
open and use them effectively (compared to Windows and the Linux window
managers I know about, anyway).

One tidbit people might not notice, is that the OS lets windows "stick" to the
top of the screen; this works both under the menu bar and under the top "edge"
of your 2nd display. So it's pretty easy to arrange windows anyway.

~~~
BasicObject
On Linux there are dynamic window managers available. They automate window
placement to maximize use of screen real estate. Many are keyboard driven and
seem difficult to use. I usually have 15-30 windows open so I've been looking
at them as alternatives to ALT + TAB.

