OS X desktop managers

[Dave2002]

I have long found Apple's "model" of multiple desktops next to useless. Probably this means I'm doing something wrong, or haven't read the "manual" (where's that?), but that's how it is. That applies in all the versions of Mac OS X which I've used from Snow Leopard onwards.

Several years ago I found a tool called Project Desktops, which is still running on one of my machines. Indeed, it runs under El Capitan.
As far as I can see it really is quite good - clears an untidy desktop within a few seconds, but all the files can be put back on to the desktop very quickly. This enables one to partition the files into useful projects, so that things don't get too confused.

I can't find many similar utilities now - though I thought I'd had another one running when I was investigating these a few years ago.

Also, it seems that the utility itself may be in limbo currently, which is rather a shame.

http://www.project-desktops.com/

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/42041/projectdesktops

Does anyone else use anything at all like this to put files into organised project groups?

[Richard Barrett]

Does anyone else use anything at all like this to put files into organised project groups?

Not me. I don't see why you'd need to have multiple desktops anyway. I like to keep mine clutter-free.

[Dave2002]

Not me. I don't see why you'd need to have multiple desktops anyway. I like to keep mine clutter-free.

So how do you achieve that?

[MrGongGong]

So how do you achieve that?

Go to the desktop
rightclick
name the folder "gubbins"
select everything on the desktop apart from the new folder
drag the lot into the Gubbins folder
change the desktop picture to one of an empty beach

[Dave2002]

Go to the desktop
rightclick
name the folder "gubbins"
select everything on the desktop apart from the new folder
drag the lot into the Gubbins folder
change the desktop picture to one of an empty beach

OK - so that way you never get anything done!
Do people really do that?

Tools such as the one I mentioned will clear the desktop, but then put everything back - and hopefully in the same locations - when the project is revisited.

[MrGongGong]

OK - so that way you never get anything done!
Do people really do that?

Tools such as the one I mentioned will clear the desktop, but then put everything back - and hopefully in the same locations - when the project is revisited.

You get lots "done"
I have a "gubbins" folder
and have just finished writing a couple of orchestral pieces as well as an online exhibition and several other things

Some things need do need to be kept in a highly "organised" way
but not everything

[Dave2002]

You get lots "done"
I have a "gubbins" folder
and have just finished writing a couple of orchestral pieces as well as an online exhibition and several other things

Some things need do need to be kept in a highly "organised" way
but not everything

Some projects really are more complex. For video edits, tools such as FCPX are really good, and keep a lot of the files under control. Some writing projects are also complex, and may require rapid access to multiple sources.

Some "projects", such as producing a shopping list, are really quite simple, and can be done using pencil and paper, or if needs must by using a computer.
Some people only have a few simple projects, while others have many including some more complex ones.

I do use your "gubbins" method sometimes, but it can also be a cause of future problems.

[Richard Barrett]

Some projects really are more complex.

I find it much easier with projects that "really are more complex" (several of which will be active at any given time) to use a hierarchy of folders like Documents>composition projects>project X>etc. with all the folders in alphabetical list view. For me this is much more efficient than having folders strewn all over the desktop. The only thing I have on the desktop, apart from one or more open Finder windows, is a permanently open TextEdit document with my list of things to do on it. This was of organising work on the machine has served me well for the last couple of decades during which I seem somehow to have got a few things done... horses for courses I think.

[Dave2002]

I find it much easier with projects that "really are more complex" (several of which will be active at any given time) to use a hierarchy of folders like Documents>composition projects>project X>etc. with all the folders in alphabetical list view. For me this is much more efficient than having folders strewn all over the desktop. The only thing I have on the desktop, apart from one or more open Finder windows, is a permanently open TextEdit document with my list of things to do on it. This was of organising work on the machine has served me well for the last couple of decades during which I seem somehow to have got a few things done... horses for courses I think.

How big is your screen?

Re the horses reference I noticed very recently that some people have different ways of perceiving their screens. Just as different people approach writing tasks differently, so some people will be able to cope with what looks like a cluttered screen, but will go frantic if the folders and or files are re-arranged into alphabetical or other orders. Thankfully, the positions on a display are reset in Mac OS X if the sorting is reset to None - which I didn't know until a few weeks ago. Some people seem to have a near photographic memory, and they operate by knowing where things are on their screens - and the clutter doesn't (allegedly) matter to them. Others would hate that way of working, but can remember where things are in a structured storage system even if they are not displayed,

I could never understand why Apple insists on having alpha order starting at the top right and working across down and to the left, and why there isn't a reverse sort.

As a result of Apple's insistence on ordering, some of my folders start with a name beginning with ZZZZ and some start with AAAA, and ones in the middle might start with MMMM.

Similarly, for iPads additional "screens"/tasks come in from the right, and there doesn't seem to be a feature to swap the screens over Left swap with Right. Admittedly this will only concern those with the latest iPads or iPad Pros. Apple doesn't seem to have noticed symmetry, where it might be useful for some people.

Yet another feature I noted yesterday is that in El Capitan the split screen feature doesn't always work, and requires not only a setting in System Preferences, but the user has to log out and back in again for the setting to take place.

The hierarchical ordering method works for some people, though not all objects (files, folders) can/should be hierarchically ordered, as they might be used in more than one project, with more than one application, so a tree structure is not the one to use. Some people can cope with trees - others seem to find them difficult.

Where things go wrong is if anything ever gets filed in the "wrong" place. That kind sometimes be fixed by the use of file tags, or more careful use of Finder search features, but even then it's not always easy, and sometimes Finder search just does not seem to work properly. It really doesn't!

I don't think many people really use more advanced Finder search methods, and each individual tries to find his or her own way of using the computer screen/desktop. AFAIK "good practice" methods are not generally taught or written about, and in any case what might be a "good practice" method for one person may present enormous difficulties for someone else.

[Richard Barrett]

How big is your screen?

The laptop, 13"; the external monitor, 24". I do a lot of my work while on the road, so I have to be able to do what I do using only the laptop. And actually, for certain boring reasons, I wasn't able to use the external monitor for more or less the entire process of working on a score whose printed dimensions are 300mm wide by 680 high. So I guess I'm used to imagining a workspace a lot bigger than the one I can actually see. On the rare occasions when I need to use the same file in different projects I haven't found the hierarchical ordering to be a problem. I suppose one difference between what I'm doing and what a lot of people do with computers is that a significant proportion of my preparatory work happens on so-called "paper", normally A3 graph paper, or A3 printouts of some stage of the work process. So wherever I am I might then have the equivalent of several dozen fairly large "screens" I can look at simultaneously, whose contents can never get mislaid or confused. As you say, different practices work for different people, and a computer isn't always the answer!

[Dave2002]

Good points - the only one some of us might disagree with is "whose contents can never get mislaid or confused" - real desktops sometimes get overloaded, or papers put somewhere else.

It's easy to forget that paper also functions as "screens". I sometimes have to look at plans, and documents (many, sometimes) with many pages.

People who only work with computers can get a form of cognitive overload if the only channel they have to the job they're working on is a modest sized screen. Also, the at first seemingly trivial business of switching between one screen window and another does actually significantly increase the time it takes to get some jobs done, and also some working practices done by just one person are very inefficient - but try telling that to some managers. It is nearly always much quicker (even in man hours) for two people to cross check two documents, than for one person to attempt that kind of task - which is of course feasible, but can be inordinately difficult.

[Anastasius]

Go to the desktop
rightclick
name the folder "gubbins"
select everything on the desktop apart from the new folder
drag the lot into the Gubbins folder
change the desktop picture to one of an empty beach

+1

I have absolutely no idea why Dave2002 goes to such lengths to try and force OSX to work in some weird and wonderful way.

[Dave2002]

+1

I have absolutely no idea why Dave2002 goes to such lengths to try and force OSX to work in some weird and wonderful way.

Maybe not, but I installed the trial version of ProjectDesktops on my MacBook Pro this afternoon, and I feel better already. I can see the picture of the galaxy which is normally hidden by icons.

Right now it (PD) doesn't seem to be available from the Apple Store in the UK - though it might be in the USA as stated on the web site. The site seems to indicate that it's free of charge right now, for some technical reason. I've written to the developers to see if they can enlighten me.

See http://www.project-desktops.com/

Another approach I could take is simply to copy the application I have already (unlimited licence?) from the machine which works - and see if I can get it to work on the MBP. It may not be too difficult.

I thought there were other similar apps/applications, and that I'd actually purchased/installed/run some, but right now this seems to be the only one with any vestiges remaining.

I'm happy enough with the galaxy picture, but the suggestion to have an empty beach is moderately tempting.

[Anastasius]

I find it much easier with projects that "really are more complex" (several of which will be active at any given time) to use a hierarchy of folders like Documents>composition projects>project X>etc. with all the folders in alphabetical list view. For me this is much more efficient than having folders strewn all over the desktop. The only thing I have on the desktop, apart from one or more open Finder windows, is a permanently open TextEdit document with my list of things to do on it. This was of organising work on the machine has served me well for the last couple of decades during which I seem somehow to have got a few things done... horses for courses I think.

Absolutely spot on. Cluttering up the Desktop with files is a surefire way of slowing down your Mac and IMO the sign of an untidy mind.

I can say this with impunity because (a) I am untidy and (b), yes, my desktop is cluttered because (c) I don't practice what I preach!

I may have mentioned this before but the analogy with a physical desktop is apposite. When I was gainfully employed and had my own office, my desktop also got cluttered. However, I knew where everything was on it. I also had a filing cabinet with three shelves. At the end of each month, the contents of the bottom shelf got binned. Middle shelf moved down, top shelf moved down and desk contents put on the top shelf. Clean desk! I worked on the premise (and it never let me down) that if anyone wanted something and I hadn't got it then someone else would.

You're either a Filer or a Stack'er. Cognitive psychologists studying this have found IIRC that Stack'ers were more efficient.

A proud Stack'er

[Dave2002]

.... and IMO the sign of an untidy mind.

I never really like these judgemental comments, which some people make about other's working habits. One of my friends once made a comment "Empty desk - empty mind" - which is also judgemental, but a counter to the obvious - as above.

Nor do I really like supposed "research" articles which get reported in newspapers. Some research articles are good, while others often seem to reflect the bias of the "researchers" and are not based on a good enough sample, with a poor methodology.

However, although the folowing may have some of the characteristics from my previous sentence, it does throw up a few ideas - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...about-you.html

I am changing the way my computer desktop(s) work - and may retain this way of working if it can be managed. Essentially if I have a project (which might even be something very small, such as writing a letter), I create a new desktop or one which is already empty. Then I write the letter. If I need other files or clippings they are brought on to the desktop - probably saved there. Finally, once the letter is done and sent, I bung all the desktop items into one folder, which may (or not) be hidden away in some well known place. Some people might use Documents for that. I used to have folders called things like LETTERS, or LETTERS 2015 or sometimes with names based on recipients if there was a long running correspondence.

Of course some types of jobs use applications which have very large work spaces. Examples might include Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. These effectively take over the role of the computer desktop and filing system for some complex projects. Although there may be personalisation in such application layouts, if there are people working collaboratively it's often helpful for most of the people to have a similar workspace, otherwise communication between them becomes difficult.