Virtual desktops are basically virtual copies of the Windows desktop that can be customized in a different way. From a different wallpaper image to desktop items, open program windows and taskbar programs. That’s handy if you want to use separate workplaces for what you do on your computer. One example could be a general desktop, and another for Office programs and work, and a third for entertainment and multimedia contents.

NSpaces comes preconfigured with four desktops; The standard desktop and three virtual desktops. Options are available to increase or decrease the amount of virtual desktops.

The program supports two different ways of switching between desktops. It is first possible to open the launcher and click on one of the desktops, or to use one of the preconfigured keyboard shortcuts to switch. The first option displays the selection menu that you see on the screenshot above, the second option is faster as it switches to the new desktop directly without that intermediary step.

All desktops are configured with a right-click on the program icon in the system tray (visible on all desktops) and the selection of nSpaces.

The Rows and Columns buttons are used to increase or decrease the number of virtual desktops on the system. Parameters for each workspace are configured here as well. Each virtual desktop consists of a label that is displayed in the switcher window, a wallpaper image or background color, a list of apps that are launched on the selected desktop and a hotkey to launch that desktop with a single keystroke.

New labels were not saved correctly during tests, but that was the only issue that I had with the program.

A separate settings window is available from the right-click context menu as well. Probably the most interesting option here is the ability to set a password to protect virtual desktops from unauthorized access. A password prompt is displayed on program launch if a password has been set in the settings.

NSpaces is a free program for Windows. It is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating system. The program requires the Microsoft .NET Framework. There is unfortunately no version information posted on the developer website. (via)

How many times have you had far too many applications up on your desktop and you found that wading through the windows added too much extra time to your work load? Being an IT professional or a power-user keeping your desktop organized can keep your work efficient and your desktop clean. But how is it used? Let’s find out.

What it does

The pager effectively creates multiple instances of your desktop that give you more work spaces to use. So instead of having a single screen to use you can configure your desktop for multiple desktops. This makes organizing your work very simple. Say, for instance, you want to have one desktop for writing, one desktop for on line work, one desktop for graphics, and one desktop for administrative tasks. This is not only possible but simple. And this allows you to have far more applications open without them getting in the way of one another (or having so many windows minimized to your panel that you can not tell which application is which.) Of course moving back and fourth between desktops will depend upon which desktop you are using. Let’s examine how each works.

GNOME

GNOME Pager

The GNOME pager resides in the Panel. By default it will appear in the bottom panel on your desktop. In the image to the left you can see the Pager in the left side. This pager has the default four desktops that all GNOME desktops will have upon installation. To switch from one desktop to another you can either click the desired desktop with the mouse or you can hit the key combination Ctrl-Alt-arrow (Where arrow is either the left or right arrow key.) So if you want to move from desktop 1 to desktop 2 you would hit the Ctrl-Alt-right arrow key. If you want to move from desktop 4 to desktop 1 you would hold the Ctrl-Alt keys and then tap the left arrow key three times.

To configure this pager you could right click anywhere on the pager and select Preferences. Within the Preferences you can define how many desktops you want and you can rename your desktops (to help you organize your work.)

KDE

KDE Pager

The KDE pagers functions in just the same way as the GNOME pager. The biggest difference is the aesthetic layout of the pager on the KDE Panel. Switching from one desktop to another in KDE is a bit different than in GNOME.

KDE Pager in Action

To switch from one desktop to another requires a different key combination. To move around from one desktop to another click and hold the Ctrl key and then tap the Tab key until you are on the correct desktop. When you are on the correct desktop, release both keys and you will be on that desktop. You can see (in the image to the right) this in action. You can also simply click on the desktop you want to go to in the pager and you will be zapped to that desktop.

If you right click the pager you can access the Pager Settings menu where you can configure the number of rows to display on the Panel and what to display (Names or numbers of desktops).

Final Thoughts

I could continue on with practially every desktop in the Linux operating system because each has its own version or implementation of the pager. But by showing GNOME and KDE you get to understand the fundamentals of this very handy tool. Using the pager can keep your work organized and your desktop clean.

The interesting aspect about Microsoft Desktops is that it is a lightweight application. It uses less than four Megabytes of computer memory to run which is a very good value for applications of this kind. The user is asked to define the hotkeys that switch between the virtual desktops during program start.

The default option is ALT and the numbers 1-4. Other keys that are available are CTRL, SHIFT and Windows and the F-keys. Switching between the virtual desktops works extremely well and fluent, there is virtually no delay.

All icons and shortcuts that have been placed on the standard desktop are replicated and available in every virtual desktop as well.

The program places an icon in the Windows system tray that displays the contents of the virtual desktops when left-clicked. Another click would select the virtual desktop and bring it up on the computer monitor.

The options of Microsoft Desktops are also accessible through the system tray icon.

Thanks to AJAX and similar technologies many complex personal web-based desktops have started to appear lately. After creating an account on such sites you could create your own virtual computer and access it from anywhere by simply connecting to the Internet and using your default browser. I tested two example services in the last days: The first service that I would like to mention is a service called OSX Mercury that is a completely free service.

Although this service looks very nice and interesting I didn’t actually test it because I was disappointed that the only supported browser is Firefox; I use Opera. That’s why I did not test it but if you’re a deep-rooted Firefox user, give it a whirl. The site seems to be down as of know due to a large amount of users that wanted to use their service.

The second similar service I found is a free web desktop environment called GCOE X, a Unix-styled system remotely accessible from anywhere. The thing is that you can only test the service as a demo user at present. Creating your own account and using all features should be possible soon as they’re claiming. This could be a fine choice for existing Unix users as they would have an advantage in handling this system. A Unix bash seems to be an important part of the project in the testing mode…

Microsofts Virtual Desktop Manager is such a tool that enables four virtual desktops in windows xp. Right click your taskbar after installation and select  Toolbars and then Desktop Manager to activate this feature. A green icon and four icons numbered one to four will appear. The numbered icons are of course the virtual desktops which can be activated by clicking on a number.

If you change something in a desktop it will only be visible in that desktop, all others will not show the changes.

Clicking the green icon will show the content of all four virtual desktops on your screen, clicking one of the desktops there will of course show the selected one in full screen.