A Different Kind of "Show Your Desktop" Thread

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MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Every so often we have the typical "Show your desktop" thread. Seems that most, if not all, of the pictures posted show the desktop with all programs minimized - i.e. showing off the wallpaper.

I just got a 24" widescreen monitor (BenQ G2400W) which is a huge change from my old 17" standard width monitor (compare this, this, this and this) and I have no idea what to do with all this real estate!

So, post a picture of your desktop with your main 2-4 programs open (e-mail, browser, etc.) so I can get some ideas for window placement (My programs would include Thunderbird, Firefox, Quicken, Word, Excel and my PIM.)

I am a little OCD, so I use to always have all my programs open maximized, so tiled windows is something I need to get use to. I would guess that there are some of you who do not even pay attention to window placement - I would probably not be able to handle that :).

Once I see enough ideas that I like, I will set something up and edit the OP to show my new desktop.

Thanks.

MotionMan
 
GeekDrew

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,099
19
81
I'm fairly OCD about my window placement. I thus have 3 19" monitors... center, whichever program I'm using the most (usually Firefox) is maximized. Right monitor, sometimes empty -- I use it when I'm playing back a video or some kind of multimedia. Left monitor, mIRC runs at left bottom (maybe bottom 1/2) of the screen, Trillian takes up the right couple of inches, entire height, and assorted chat windows take up the remainder.

But I'm not going to post screen shots of most of it, because of how much I would have to redact from the images before posting.
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
GeekDrew brings up a good point: People will probably want to redact a few things before posting their pictures.

Thank you in advance for the effort.

MotionMan
 
X

XJustMeX21

Golden Member
Nov 26, 2005
1,606
0
76
Just got the same monitor yesterday, Using it for my pc, 360 and ps3. I'll post up a pic in the am
 
Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,545
1,706
126
2x24"

It's hard to get used to only having two monitors at home, but I'm too cheap to buy any more. :p
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
2x24"

It's hard to get used to only having two monitors at home, but I'm too cheap to buy any more. :p
Click to expand...

But how do you have your e-mail, browser and other programs laid out on your desktops when they are not minimized?

MotionMan
 
fatpat268

fatpat268

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2006
5,853
0
71
Meh, you're not missing much from my desktop.

Everything is always maximized... at least browser windows, email applications, etc. Why? Because I like being able to blindly move the mouse to the top right corner to click out a program without worrying if I pressed the right X. I dunno, I'm just lazy like that. I've tried doing the whole tiling windows things, but it's more of a hassle that what it's worth, IMO. I'm using a 20.1" running at 1680x1050. Plenty for me.
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
I had a 24'' 2407wfp and use WinSplit Revolution, lets me tile windows quickly and efficiently. Most programs are half screen w/ a few that are quarter screen (like my pidgin chat window). I'm too use to multiple monitors (had 3 17''s before this) to just maximize everything all the time
 
Ika

Ika

Lifer
Mar 22, 2006
14,264
3
81
I usually have full screen of whatever I'm doing (Firefox, MS Office, Foobar, or gaming). The only thing I use regularly that's not fullscreen is Trillian, which I have on the left side, about 2" wide.
 
Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,545
1,706
126
Originally posted by: MotionMan
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
2x24"

It's hard to get used to only having two monitors at home, but I'm too cheap to buy any more. :p
Click to expand...

But how do you have your e-mail, browser and other programs laid out on your desktops when they are not minimized?

MotionMan
Click to expand...

That image is how I have it laid out. I only use webmail and typically only have one browser open at a time. I keep Ventrillo or WMP in the left quarter of the right monitor, IE7 on the rest of the right monitor, and whatever app I'm working on takes up the full left monitor.
 
P

Penth

Senior member
Mar 9, 2004
933
0
0
Desktop

I know you want windows but I don't really have a default layout. I hardly ever have windows maximized. I usually have chat in the left screen along with the page I'm editing, middle screen is usually dreamweaver and another website side by side and right screen is phpmyadmin. I also tile VNC sessions and Virtual machines on the side monitors.
 
P

Penth

Senior member
Mar 9, 2004
933
0
0
Originally posted by: Mo0o
I had a 24'' 2407wfp and use WinSplit Revolution, lets me tile windows quickly and efficiently. Most programs are half screen w/ a few that are quarter screen (like my pidgin chat window). I'm too use to multiple monitors (had 3 17''s before this) to just maximize everything all the time
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning WinSplit Revolution. I just installed it. It looks like it should be very useful.
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
Hey Penth, can u gimme some details on your setup? are all 3 monitors attached to one machine?
 
P

Penth

Senior member
Mar 9, 2004
933
0
0
It's 2 x 2007FP on the sides and a 3007FPW in the middle. They're all hooked up to the same machine. The left and center are running on a 7900GTO and the right is an old 6600GT. I mostly use it for development but plan to upgrade video cards when Nehalem comes out.
 
D

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Since I got a widescreen, I stopped using a maximized window for my web browser, since it was pointless to have it that wide. With the few extra inches on the right side, I have Winamp (ClearONE beta skin FTMFW) and Miranda (very small) although I don't really use those much anymore so it's just wasted space.

Another change is windows in general being wider, like Windows Explorer is wider than I used to use it (not maximized).

Nothing special though. Maybe I'll take a pic later when I'm working on some code.
 
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