Virtual Desktops Speeds Up System

[Lawrence Dudley]

Over the last few days, I've been playing around with Linux-like virtual desktops. Apart from being useful, I also found that using these types of applications, with only one or two applications open per desktop has sped up my mac by a BIG amount. It's made iPhoto fly when it used to crawl, and meant that Photoshop opens in a couple of seconds as opposed to 30.
I don't know if you people'll have the same experience, but I always like to share ideas that seem bright(ish) to me!
The virtual desktop programs I would reccomend are:
Virtue - free but a bit buggy for me... sometimes placed windows in the wrong places and crashed leaving windows inaccessible.
VirtualDesktop - Very good so far, 15 day trial which I'm on my first day of.
Both applications are easy enough to install/uninstall, I would really reccomend you give them a go, especially if you often have hundreds of windows open like I seem to :-)

[ulrik]

Hmm, interesting...

I can't imagine how app startup times could be faster...IF they really are, there is something wrong in the standard config.

just out of interest: did you load photoshop without the virtual desktops, quit it, started the virtual desktop app, and then started photoshop again? if this is the case, then I wouldn't account the faster startup time to the virtual desktop application but the fact that needed libraries are already loaded.

will give it a try later, sounds definitely interesting...

[Lawrence Dudley]

it just generally seems a lot faster to me, because before switching from, say, GoLive CS2 to Photoshop CS2 could sometimes take 10 seconds , whereas having them on seperate desktops and simply switching desktops is instantaneous.
Feels like a brand new machine to me!

[simbalala]

Originally Posted by Lawrence Dudley

it just generally seems a lot faster to me, because before switching from, say, GoLive CS2 to Photoshop CS2 could sometimes take 10 seconds , whereas having them on seperate desktops and simply switching desktops is instantaneous.

What machine are you running on?

Switching between those two apps on my machine IS instantaneous (once they're loaded of course). It seems that the virtual desktops are just another layer of unneeded complexity to me. Uneeded in both machine terms and interface terms.