About 4 years ago I got a 13.3" Thinkpad laptop to replace an old Chromebook for portable development, and installed Arch + i3 on it (btw). After a bit of ricing the configs, it started feeling really homey. I love using workspaces here! They feel perfectly suited for laptop screens which have minimal space, allowing me to keep my browser full-screen and my IDE full-screen while still quickly switching back and forth to reference one or the other.
On the other hand, I don’t really use workspaces when I’m on my desktop PC (I use a 27" monitor). I just installed KDE to get ahead of the Windows 10 EOL, and while I looked into combining i3 and KDE, I haven’t really felt the need for i3’s workspaces or using KDE’s virtual desktops. With a 27" monitor, I feel like there’s enough space to split my browser and IDE half-and-half on screen, and I’m ok using a file browser or terminal window as floating windows. Another consideration is that I’m always using a mouse on my desktop, so switching between workspaces with the keyboard wouldn’t feel as natural.
What about you? Do you use workspaces differently between devices? Does screen size affect your choices at all?
I have a 3x3 desktop grid in plasma, it works great for me on my laptop, but I don’t think I could use it without touchpad gestures. I would probably have less or none if I had a big screen.
I use them like browser tabs so I’ve had like 20-30 going at once before on sway.
For me it’s all about focus. Screen #1 is general usage. #2 is client #1. #3 is client #2. #4 is camera from my door.
I use workspaces everyday as a context switcher for related apps and programs. An example would be a “main focus” workspace that includes whatever project I’m working along including any relevant documentation or browser windows. When it’s time to take a break, I have a separate workspace for stuff like kbin or messaging platforms.
Another consideration is that I’m always using a mouse on my desktop, so switching between workspaces with the keyboard wouldn’t feel as natural.
I use hot corners for this reason. Dragging my mouse to one of the corners of the screen brings up the workspaces interface.
With a 27" monitor, I feel like there’s enough space
*looks at the second monitor I bought because the 49" ultrawide “wasn’t enough space”…
I might be ignoring some useful features… sips tea
How far away from your monitor do you sit to see all of the 49”?! It must all be in your peripheral vision, haha. (Edit: oh, I overlooked the ultra wide mention and was picturing a 49” tv type thing, haha. Ultra wide makes more sense!)
I actually went down from two monitors on my desktop to one… nothing wrong with the second monitor now sitting in my closet, but I’m liking the extra space on my desk and it feels more ergonomic to not be swiveling my neck as much.
It’s weird for gaming, depending on the game, because there is SO much in the periphery of your vision, but for productivity stuff its great (its basically 2 monitors stuck together with no bezel in the middle). I actually originally bought it solely for Eve Online… With one normal monitor before, you have so much stuff on your screen that you NEED to see roaming low or null space that you don’t get to see your pretty space ship hardly at all. But with ultrawide, there’s room for both needed UI elements as well as pretty space views.
I still can’t get used to it for first person games though, and if the game isn’t well setup for ultrawide the FOV can feel pretty screwy. It looks awesome, but you run around for 10 minutes and you start to wonder why you can’t see anything and then realize it is because your lunch is on the screen… (at least for me, lol)
