05 Feb 2005
Ever since I got hooked on the idea of virtual desktops with Linux, I've used some kind of virtual desktop manager on the Mac. I don't know how people do without them—particularly on a relatively small laptop screen. I find that it really helps to organise my workspaces into related activities, such as web, email, editing and so forth.
I started off using Codetek Virtual Desktop, and while I happily paid for a licence and thought the product was great, I started using the Open Source Desktop Manager instead. It didn't have all the bells and whistles of the Codetek product, but this was a good thing in many ways, and made it simpler and easier to use.
However, like Jarkko Laine, one thing always bothered me about Desktop Manager, and that was the fact that it didn't switch to the correct desktop if you made an application active. I've spent frustrating minutes going to each desktop in turn to try and track down an application that I've misplaced. Virtue fixes that bug, and has some elegant improvements like a semi-transparent bezel pager display. It also displays mini-icons for your applications on the pager, so you know what's where. Particularly if you have a laptop, I'd really recommend giving it a try.