//I am afraid that my foreword might be found boring and is actually even longer then main idea. I have marked it as some kind of attachment. Skip to the 4th paragraph if you find the previous part too boring to continue.
When I do some basic work I usually use about two windows. I think it's quite common. Programmer has to have some documentation along with IDE, or terminal along with text editor. Writer often need a dictionary when he write something in a text processor. I used to have few windows maximised and kept on different desktops. I could have a glance at the docs while writing a program via hotkeys (SuperKey+<numbers> were perfect). I must admit that it was the most efficient I ever used. Let's answer a simple question. Why do we need virtual desktops? Why haven't they been implemented in Windows, for example? When I have started my linux adventure I have treated virtual desktops as some kind of sessions. I was using only one desktop until I decided to take a break and do something completely different. It took some time until I have worked my way to use them efficiently. Finding a way to manage workspaces is difficult, although experienced user may not expect that. The linux gives us total freedom in organising our environment. We could develop new features in Gnome to fulfil all potential needs but where would we get then? To KDE or Compiz. Heavy, large and difficult to set up. The heaven for newcomers who want to have some fun (if not large number of bugs). But we already have it (as entire FOSS community). //(SKIP HERE) :) I think that we should create The Gnome Usage Solutions. We should collect some patterns of situations and find the most comfortable and effectively way to act. For example the mentioned problem of using only two windows with a need of having a glance on the second one while being focused on the first. Classical mouse clicking fails without discussion. We could use two desktops and switch via hotkeys but then desktop switching image covers some screen for a while. Another way is to resize both windows to halves of their sizes and keep them both visible. I'm sure you see what I mean. Why should we do such discussions? Some of you might say that solving such problems is an individual matter. I wouldn't like to force anyone to do something specific way. I'd like to simply create some public database. When someone will propose any feature, others may not imagine their use. Even if he would came with an example it's hard to analyse it properly on fly. It might also be the source of ideas itself. For example one of solutions I gave in the previous example has disadvantage of image which covers some screen when you switch the desktops via hotkeys (press LCTRL+LALT+DOWN_ARROW to see it). It automatically brings us simple idea to change it. Don't think "I think that I wasn't working efficiently last time. What could be introduced to change it?", but instead ask us what could you do to make it easier. First think about the problem, then try to solve it using methods you have. Think about changes at the end.
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