Cmd+Tab through applications within ONE Space

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nortexoid

Registered
Is there any way to cycle through applications open on a given Space? By default Cmd+Tab cycles through applications on ALL spaces. If Spaces are to be thought of as mostly independent virtual desktops, then this is BAD OS behavior.

In KDE (I've moved from there) one can "Expose" or "Cmd+Tab" through applications that are open ONLY on a given Space. (One can also get OS X behavior, too, if she wishes.) Boy, do I miss this functionality! I would give an arm to anyone who can tell me how to get this back.
 
This is the difference between Linux/Windows applications and Mac applications.

On a Mac, it is possible to have two windows from a single app open on two different "Spaces". Mac applications are comprised of windows, so an application is not "bound" to a space like it may be on a Linux or Windows platform.

The short answer is no, you can't command-tab through application windows open in a particular space.

Spaces in Mac OS X are, to the best of my knowledge, NOT "independent virtual desktops". Think of them more as a way of extending your desktop size -- they're all a part of the same desktop, just separated so that you're viewing a portion at any given time (ie, a "space").

If you use Expose's "All Applications" shortcut in a given space, you will only be presented windows open in the current space. While this isn't command-tab-like behavior, it may get you halfway to where you need to be.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
This is the difference between Linux/Windows applications and Mac applications.

On a Mac, it is possible to have two windows from a single app open on two different "Spaces". Mac applications are comprised of windows, so an application is not "bound" to a space like it may be on a Linux or Windows platform.

The short answer is no, you can't command-tab through application windows open in a particular space.

Spaces in Mac OS X are, to the best of my knowledge, NOT "independent virtual desktops". Think of them more as a way of extending your desktop size -- they're all a part of the same desktop, just separated so that you're viewing a portion at any given time (ie, a "space").

If you use Expose's "All Applications" shortcut in a given space, you will only be presented windows open in the current space. While this isn't command-tab-like behavior, it may get you halfway to where you need to be.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to sound rude, but it's also true on linux that you can have multiple windows of a single application open on different virtual desktops. This is true of most window managers such as KWin. It's not a Mac thing.

Also, you say that spaces are not intended to be independent virtual desktops, but rather they act as one large desktop. Then why does Expose reveal only those windows open on a given desktop? I think the behavior is *fortunately* inconsistent. Ideally there should be a user-configurable option for Cmd+Tab to work like Expose does now and vice versa.

I guess I'll just have to live with mediocre window management on the Mac.
 
Linux and Windows are "application-centric" operating systems for the most part.

Mac OS X is a "window-centric" operating system for the most part.

On Linux and Windows, what happens when you close the LAST window that's open in an application? The application terminates.

On Mac OS X, what happens when you close the LAST window that's open in an application? Nothing. The application continues running, just without any windows.

What happens in Windows/Linux when you select "quit" or "exit" from the "File" menu on a window of an application that has multiple windows open? Only the window you selected "quit" from dies, and the rest continue running.

What happens in Mac OS X when you select "quit" from the "File" menu on an application that has multiple windows open? ALL windows close, and the application terminates.

This is another reason Mac OS X has a "global" menubar at the top of the screen, and Windows/Linux have their menubars embedded in the windows of the application (On Mac OS X, "File, edit, window, etc." menus are persistent at the top of the screen, no matter where the windows are moved -- on Windows/Linux, "File, edit, window, etc." are located at the top of the WINDOW(s) that are open).

This is also evident on Windows (and on Linux to an extent as well) when you open two Internet Explorer (or Firefox) windows -- you will have as many "Firefox.exe" processes as you have windows open. On Mac OS X, you will only ever have a single "Firefox.app" process running, no matter how many windows you have open (unfortunately, Firefox 4.0 tries to mimic the "one application" schema, where selecting "quit" terminates ALL windows -- Internet Explorer, on the other hand, still does the classic "one iexplore.exe process for every open window").

Expose reveals windows, not applications. Expose interacts with your windows, while command-tab interacts with your applications.

Is this true 100% of the time in 100% of those operating systems? No. But for the most part, Mac OS X revolves around windows, while Windows/Linux revolves around applications. Firefox on Windows is an example of an application deviating from the "norm" or exhibiting inconsistent behavior when trying to explain the application-centric/window-centric schema.

Perhaps this is why you're expecting Mac OS X to have similar behavior to Linux and Windows.

I'm not arguing for or against any of these implementations, nor am I arguing which way is better than another -- I'm simply stating facts as to how the operating system functions in hopes of highlighting why a particular function operates the way it does (or doesn't).
 
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nortexoid said:
I guess I'll just have to live with mediocre window management on the Mac.
Click to expand...

I can recommend a few window management applications that make life much easier on Mac OS X if you're interested. It won't get you "show me all applications associated with a particular Space" (since that is probably never going to happen, since Mac OS X revolves around "windows" not "applications"), but I have found that they are indispensable when trying to format, display, and move windows around in Mac OS X.
 
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