

I don't think Apple is getting rid of Spaces in OS X 10.7 - alexknight
http://alexknight.net/blog/2011/2/12/i-dont-think-apple-is-getting-rid-of-spaces-in-os-x-107.html

======
tzs
I have not been fully happy with Spaces. What I want out of a virtual desktop
solution is good handling of the "tasks vs. apps" problem. What I mean by that
is that the operating system views the world as consisting of applications and
their windows, whereas to the user the world consists of tasks the user is
trying to accomplish.

For example, suppose I have four things I'm in the midst of working on at the
same time. I've just deployed an update to a set of load balanced servers, and
I have terminal windows open on each server in which I'm tailing the logs to
see if any unusual errors show up. I've also got a browser window open on a
monitoring page for that service. Finally, I've got a chat window where I'm in
contact with an IT guy who is also monitoring the deployment. Let's call this
task T1.

I'm also writing some code. I've got a terminal window for running tests, and
doing git commands. I've got a browser open to look up documentation. I've got
an editor window for editing. This is task T2.

I'm also reading HN. That uses a browser window, sometimes two or three if I
go off following links. I'm also got a chat window opened discussing the more
interesting HN news stories with a friend. This is task T3.

Finally, I'm putting together a report. I'm running some log analysis scripts
in a terminal window, getting some other data from some web-based sources, and
actually writing the report in a text editor. This is task T4.

I'm using four applications: Terminal (which I'll call A1), Safari (A2),
Textmate (A3), and iChat (A4).

Here's a little table showing what is going on. Rows represent applications,
columns represent my tasks. An 'X' where a row and column intersect means that
the column's task involves windows of the row's application.

    
    
        A1 = Terminal
        A2 = Safari
        A3 = Textmate
        A4 = iChat
    
        T1 = monitor recent deployment
        T2 = writing code
        T3 = reading HN
        T4 = writing report
    
    
           | T1| T2| T3| T4
        --------------------   
        A1 | X | X |   | X |
        --------------------
        A2 | X | X | X | X |
        --------------------
        A3 |   | X |   | X |
        --------------------
        A4 | X |   | X |   |
        --------------------
    

Working on a single desktop, there are two ways to manage windows.
Minimization is focused on individual windows. In terms of the table above,
minimization manages windows on the level of the individual cell.

The other way to manage windows is show/hide, which operates on the rows of
the table. You tell Safari, for instance, to hide all of its windows.

What is missing is window management oriented toward the columns of the table.
At any given instance I am working on one of my four tasks. I want to see all
of the windows associated with that task, and do not need to see the windows
for the other tasks (and often specifically do not want to see them as they
are distracting).

This is where virtual desktops should be ideal. Use one desktop per task, and
switch between desktops when switching tasks. The problem is that most (all?)
implementations I've seen of virtual desktops do not sufficiently isolate the
desktops. For instance, the "next window" functionality supported in many apps
will switch to windows on different desktops.

What I want is for each desktop to be largely independent of the others. I
want to be able to cycle through windows, alt-tab between apps, and use
"hide", "hide others", or "show all" and have it only apply to the windows on
that desktop.

~~~
Vitaly
Well "Spaces" mostly fits the bill after you switch off the 'change spaces
when switching to an application' setting.

This setting it makes it very hard to add a 1st window of an application to
the current space. For example if I want to open new Chrome window and I alt-
tab to it, it will switch to one of the spaces that have it open. With the
setting closed it remains on the current space and so Apple-N will open new
window.

Once you remove the setting all other things works more or less as expected.
Apple-Tab will switch to one of the windows of the application that is visible
on the current space. Apple-~ will cycle through application windows on the
current space etc.

The only problem is with applications like Skype, which have the single window
that you need to switch to. Right now I need to remember on what space is it
and switch there.

