Quiet desktops

[Dave2002]

I have been experimenting for some while with desktop arrangements for Mac OS X. I've not yet found an ideal arrangement, but I have found some better configurations.

Recently I found tools to clear most of the files off my desktop - or rather I started using them more systematically. I also noted the 4 finger trackpad swipe left/right gesture to change what Apple call a desktop. Even more recently I noticed that each of Apple's desktops can have its own background, so currently I have 6 of those - 2 x plain blue background, 1 x El Capitan image background, 1 x plain pinkish background, 1 x plain grey background, and 1 x starry night over Yosemite with Half Dome background.

I have had the plain backgrounds for a few days now. I have noticed that using this computer feels a lot "quieter" now - there are few distractions, and the desktop is mostly uncluttered - except when I start off a project, which can fill the screen within a couple of hours. I wasn't expecting this - and I'm still somewhat frustrated that the desktops don't do exactly what I want, but I find it currently feels so much more relaxing looking at a completely plain background with not much on, than some "interesting" scene with loads of icons and clutter. The effect of removing the "interesting" backgrounds is much greater than I'd expected, and really does feel much more conducive to what might actually be productive activity. Oh - if you're a PC or Linux user you can do this with the desktops there too!

So - FWIW - I suggest removing your backgrounds of your favourite holiday spots, your favourite film stars, musicians, orchestras, or even your family members and replace them with a plain colour - pinkish does seem to work rather well - but others might do, though not too dark. Clear as many icons off the desktop as you can can, and see if you notice that you are feeling more peaceful after a few days. Just a suggestion - you don't have to try it, or even believe me. I'll report back in a while and let you know if I've reverted to more jarring backgrounds - though I'm not intending to.

[french frank]

I have been experimenting for some while with desktop arrangements for Mac OS X. I've not yet found an ideal arrangement, but I have found some better configurations …

I've been half with you since forever. I don't see the point of having a picture on my desktop so I always change it to a mid shade colour - currently green, if that's of any interest !

But icon litter - that's another matter. When the iMac starts getting slow to boot up or the clutter is so great I can't immediately see what I want, I create yet another folder called 'Desktop Dump' or something similar and just tip all the files in there and put them somewhere where they will never be 'disturbed' again. Efficiency is all

[Dave2002]

The tool I currently use to reduce the icon count is Project Desktops, which does essentially what you suggest - gathers all the files up and puts them in a folder. The folder can be revisited though, rather than dumped to obscurity. By switching desktops in PD data and applications of similar activities can be grouped together othierwise things might get mixed up on the screen. However, PD is not currently available in the UK AFAIK.

Pointing this out wasn't the main purpose of this thread however. I have been really surprised at how having no images on the desktop but just a flat background seems to help. Perhaps I was imagining this, but right now I don't think so, which was also why I was hinting that other people should try this.

[french frank]

The tool I currently use to reduce the icon count is Project Desktops, which does essentially what you suggest - gathers all the files up and puts them in a folder. The folder can be revisited though, rather than dumped to obscurity. By switching desktops in PD data and applications of similar activities can be grouped together othierwise things might get mixed up on the screen. However, PD is not currently available in the UK AFAIK.

One could, of course, have separate accounts for different aspects of work or projects and log into whichever one was appropriate. And you can dispense with them when no longer needed.

Pointing this out wasn't the main purpose of this thread however. I have been really surprised at how having no images on the desktop but just a flat background seems to help. Perhaps I was imagining this, but right now I don't think so, which was also why I was hinting that other people shoult try this.

I probably feel the same: I looked at the Sierra daybreak-tinged mountains and changed it with a motion of annoyance ("Why is that thing still there?"), as I have with other OSX desktop designs. Solid Kelp is the current one

[David-G]

I don't have any files on my desktop - and in fact, I hardly ever see it. I generally set application windows to fill the screen, so the desktop is invisible. But then I am a Windows user - does that make a difference to this?

[french frank]

I don't have any files on my desktop - and in fact, I hardly ever see it. I generally set application windows to fill the screen, so the desktop is invisible. But then I am a Windows user - does that make a difference to this?

I don't see why. I used to litter my desktop with files then, but I do it more now with the Mac because it's so much easier to take screenshots, for one thing.

I'm not 100% sure I was thinking along the same lines as Dave2002 but I've created new accounts on both machines, solid lavender background, nothing but the Time Machine© icon, the Dock cleared of everything except what I need for my project.

It's like walking into a completely tidy room. Just BTCloud communicating with the outside world (and the internet, of course).

And I've just discovered (I think) by accident the quicker way to switch logins - by clicking on the account name on the right hand side of the menu bar, rather than logging out via the Apple icon, then waiting, then logging in to the new one.

[Dave2002]

I'm not 100% sure I was thinking along the same lines as Dave2002 but I've created new accounts on both machines, solid lavender background, nothing but the Time Machine© icon, the Dock cleared of everything except what I need for my project.

It's like walking into a completely tidy room. Just BTCloud communicating with the outside world (and the internet, of course).

That's kind of along the lines I was thinking of. If you're doing a photography project you won't want to be worrying or dealing with documents and texts for a completely different project, while if you're working on documentation you should try not to be distracted by photographs, movies or computer screen backgrounds. It just feels quieter.

I'm interested in your suggestion of using multiple login ids. I wonder if that takes up too much computer resource - or wastes time while switching from one login to another. It almost certainly would on some older machines with hard drive storage, though on my MBP with SSD login and presumably switching users (which I don't do - but you have discovered something which might be worth checking out ...) should only be a few seconds. Using Project Desktops to rearrange my desktop only takes a few seconds so it'd be interesting to compare the methods.

[french frank]

That's kind of along the lines I was thinking of. If you're doing a photography project you won't want to be worrying or dealing with documents and texts for a completely different project, while if you're working on documentation you should try not to be distracted by photographs, movies or computer screen backgrounds. It just feels quieter.

I'm interested in your suggestion of using multiple login ids. I wonder if that takes up too much computer resource - or wastes time while switching from one login to another.

It takes about 5 secs to switch users by using the quick method. Very artistic - my Solid Kelp desktop reduces in size a bit to form the front of a cube which spins round 180º to reveal my Solid Lavender desktop. Apart from having to enter your password with each change it's just like moving out of the dining room into your study. All the same applications are there, though some do need setting up again at the beginning.

[Dave2002]

And I've just discovered (I think) by accident the quicker way to switch logins - by clicking on the account name on the right hand side of the menu bar, rather than logging out via the Apple icon, then waiting, then logging in to the new one.

Good tip that one.
It does seem to work, and setting up a new account doesn't seem to take up too many resources.

I don't know if there are any other issues with this approach. Does Time Machine still work with multiple users? Probably.

You can change the background colour quickly without having to have a separate user simply by using the four finger swipe gesture, and have multiple "desktops" set up in the window - each with a different background image or background colour. Use F3 to set up and manage each individual desktop. That's even quicker as there's no need to put in a password.

Of course if you want to have different applications - a project oriented approach - then your suggestion to switch users is a good one, and seems to work.

A slight (very slight - hopefully) concern might be that having more users would increase vulnerability. You'd need to use decent passwords on all the accounts.

[Dave2002]

I was intrigued by the mention of rotating cubes - msg 8. This does indeed happen, though one downside to this approach is that shutting the machine down takes longer. This is because if multiple user accounts are open there is a warning about shutting the machine down with other accounts open, so this means that to be sure one has to logout of each open account (apart from the last one) explicitly before shutting down.

For me it's an open question now as to whether this is a better way of working than the methods I have been adopting recently. One benefit of the multi-account approach might be that applications and windows (if there are any) associated with each project (account) could be opened automatically on startup and also on user switching.

I had thought there might be an unacceptable system overhead using multi-accounts, but it does not seem as bad as I feared, and users who have machines with a lot of spare memory/backing storage will have little to worry about. I still think performance will be relatively poor for machines which rely on hard drives for backing storage and/or which have fairly small main memory capacity.

[french frank]

one downside to this approach is that shutting the machine down takes longer. This is because if multiple user accounts are open there is a warning about shutting the machine down with other accounts open, so this means that to be sure one has to logout of each open account (apart from the last one) explicitly before shutting down.

Or remembering to log out when you've finished with that account and before switching back to the main one.

The Time Machine© icon does appear automatically, but SuperDuper! is set to back up the HD so why would it not back up all accounts?

It's a low-tech solution for those who aren't at risk of overloading their systems. It does make it easier to mislay files temporarily if you're using two machines, each with two accounts .