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Author Topic: Windows 8 Virtual Desktops  (43,662 Views)
Offline (Unknown gender) Goombert

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Posted on: October 20, 2014, 07:59:38 AM
No joke, it's been built into Windows since XP, and Microsoft has an installer for you to access the hidden feature, so it's not a rough hack.
http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/virtual-desktops-windows/

Offline (Unknown gender) lonewolff
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Reply #1 Posted on: October 20, 2014, 08:28:14 AM
I remember back in the old days installing Microsoft Powertoys which enabled some cool things, Virtual Desktop Manager being one of those things. :)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows/xp-downloads#2TC=powertoys

So yep, it has been there from the start :)
Offline (Unknown gender) Darkstar2

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Reply #2 Posted on: October 20, 2014, 05:02:59 PM
lol so you mean this so-called unique feature in windows 10 was "available" as early as XP .... :D

Much like the start menu aye ? :D

been there just dig it back from the gave and call it an evolution.

Doesn't this remind you of something ? :D
Offline (Unknown gender) Rusky

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Reply #3 Posted on: October 20, 2014, 10:41:29 PM
I tried it in Windows XP, using TweakUI to enable it. It was worse than just not using it at all- you can't move windows between desktops, nothing written for Windows is aware of the feature so notifications are all screwed up, etc.

Windows 10 has improved the feature immensely.
Offline (Unknown gender) daz

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Reply #4 Posted on: October 21, 2014, 10:04:08 PM
I've just been using this handy little program: http://dexpot.de/ which is free and much more user friendly. I didn't know it was a semi built-in feature of Windows until my dad showed me it... (he was a big fan of sysinternals before Microsoft ate them up.)
Offline (Unknown gender) edsquare

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Reply #5 Posted on: October 22, 2014, 09:46:18 PM
Been using multiple desktops/windows/workspaces for years out of the box (On linux)
Offline (Unknown gender) lonewolff
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Reply #6 Posted on: October 22, 2014, 10:21:15 PM
I have recently just put Ubuntu back on one of my PC's. It is a great OS.  :cool:

I am almost at the point where I could even ditch windows, if it wern't for the love of coding in Windows.

Good to have them side by side though, as I am really getting into trying to make seamless cross-platform code.  :cool:
Offline (Unknown gender) Rusky

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Reply #7 Posted on: October 23, 2014, 07:08:20 AM
I never realized how obnoxious Ubuntu was until I used Arch and it didn't blow up every time I updated and didn't feel like a bloated Windows XP.
Offline (Unknown gender) lonewolff
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Reply #8 Posted on: October 23, 2014, 07:25:55 AM
Arch hey? Never tried it.

How does cross platform coding generally work between distro's? Is it a case of 'just works' on all? Or are there some quirks involved?
Offline (Unknown gender) onpon

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Reply #9 Posted on: October 23, 2014, 09:07:06 AM
There is no "cross-platform" between GNU/Linux distros. They're all basically the same system: GNU userland and the kernel Linux. The parts that matter for binary compatibility are the C library implementation (glibc) and the kernel (Linux). So any binary built for a glibc+Linux system will work on any glibc+Linux system.

Of course, this doesn't include the GNU system with the Hurd, or the GNU system with the FreeBSD kernel; these systems use glibc, but not Linux. It also doesn't include Android, which uses Linux, but not glibc.
Offline (Unknown gender) Rusky

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Reply #10 Posted on: October 24, 2014, 02:21:14 AM
The biggest problem is all the other dependencies besides glibc. People tend to either give out the source and let distributions package it themselves, or statically link everything so they can distribute binaries that work cross-distro.

A slightly different case is Steam, which includes all the dependencies games can have so they don't have to statically link but they can still run cross-distro without worrying about having fifty specific versions of specific libraries installed.
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