B. Mann Consulting

I have a spare cubicle at one of the offices where I work that I occasionally plunk myself down at. There is no computer there, but there is the leftover monitor.

So, I gave multiple desktops a try using the DVI-to-VGA connector on my laptop. It works great. No, it works fantastic.

You plug it in, go into System Preferences and hit "Detect Displays" in the Displays control panel, and voila! multiple desktops.

I dragged my email and IM clients over to the other screen, but the work I was doing was on my laptop screen. Out of the corner of my eye (the monitor was a bit off to one side), I could see activity happening in email or IM. I could easily glance over and check to see if the email was something I needed to deal with, without having to go the extra, concentration-breaking step of switching applications. I could mouse over and read the new email, or I could ignore it.

Now of course I am thinking about how I can get a second monitor at home, but we really don't have the space for it or a proper spot for me to setup my laptop next to it. I think I'll hold out for a projector as our next video-viewing device.