Is the OS feature, "Workspaces", under-utilized in gaming? (Windows, Linux with Gnome3 / Unity / etc. frontends)

[delete12345]

Workspaces = Desktops in which you can easily switch to.

On Windows 10, it would be CTRL + WinKey + Arrow Keys.

On Linux with Gnome 3 (such as my Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS), it's SHIFT + WinKey + PageUp/PageDown to move apps to different workspaces, then you do CTRL + ALT + Up/Down Arrow to switch to those Workspaces.

Linux with Unity frontend is the same way.

I think other flavors of frontends and Linux OSes all have common ways to do this.

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So... I'm wondering if anyone here utilizes Workspaces more often during gaming? If so, in your opinion, do you think Workspaces are under-utilized in gaming, or this is really just depending on what games you are playing?

 

[Deleted member 12790]

I use work spaces when developing games, but not when playing, no.

 

[Soulflarz]

I use it when a game hardlocks my desktop to avoid having to reboot or having task manager always on top :^)

(task manager open and then you can suddenly use it to open another workspace with control+shift+D)

 

[Butch]

I use that feature when working but never while gaming no, any examples on how it could be useful? I think I'm missing something here lol. You mean like switching between games/other stuff or something like that?

 

[SiG]

I'm more disappointed over the fact that not many PC games utilize multi-monitor setups.

 

[Kyuur]

I used workspaces in Gnome when working on a laptop without attached monitors.

I don't tend to ever use them if I have dual/tri monitors.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

What's wrong with Alt+Tab?

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

It's a fucking lifesaver for "game that when you alt tab out of, you can't actually do anything or close anything and you can't even access the alt+ctrl+del because you can't click on it".

I also use it for productivity, but killing processes on locked up stuff like that, super useful.

 

[delete12345]

What's wrong with Alt+Tab?

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ALT+TAB may not be available if user-defined hotkeys are using either key inputs.

I use work spaces when developing games, but not when playing, no.

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Funny story, this thread is inspired by myself switching workspaces while developing my own games, and then realized it may be useful when playing games too. Or livestreaming!

 

[Deleted member 12790]

I'm more disappointed over the fact that not many PC games utilize multi-monitor setups.

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this is because, even today, managing contexts on multuple monitors is frustrating to do. Multiple-monitor support usually takes so, so much boilerplate code. It's not at all an easy thing to implement.

 

[minimalism]

I never remember workspaces even exist because I have a dual monitor at home and tri monitor at work. Plus borderless windowed mode games are the real trick.

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

I use it when playing a game in GeForce now. I play on a Mac, and whenever a game is loading (battletech in particular has bad load times) I'll switch to a other desktop to look at twitter or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 3758]

.

 

[Pikelet]

I discovered Workspaces the other week and i think it's a fantastic solution for people who work and play on the same machine and want to partition these activities.

I have my Work-From-Home workspace, and when I'm done i ctrl+windows key+arrow to swap over to non-work mode which has all my browser tabs + discord/steam ready to go.

 

[Crayon]

No i only use them at work. If they took away my gnome at work, id be pissed. I kinda need it to get in my groove.

I dont even use it at home because it reminds me of work. I use xfce at home because its old school lol. Its just nice and different from gnome at work. Xfce als happens to handle workspaces gracefully, but i dont use them at home.

I use two monitors in the office so i got room witout flipping workspaces. And the gaming pc ic in the living room never multitasking.

 

[Crazymoogle]

For Mac OS it's a vital everyday feature with dedicated buttons, even.

For Windows....it's still basically a hidden feature. I had to read 3 articles just to find out how it works because the UI is...subtle, at best. But it's cool that its there.

 

[Pikelet]

For Mac OS it's a vital everyday feature with dedicated buttons, even.

For Windows....it's still basically a hidden feature. I had to read 3 articles just to find out how it works because the UI is...subtle, at best. But it's cool that its there.

Click to shrink...

In Windows 10 there's a big ol button next to the start button that lets you switch between workspaces, I wouldn't call it a hidden feature

edit: I might actually be wrong about this, not sure if it's enabled by default

 

[Bradford]

I use it when a game hardlocks my desktop to avoid having to reboot or having task manager always on top :^)

(task manager open and then you can suddenly use it to open another workspace with control+shift+D)

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This is a buck wild pro tip I never considered. holy fuck.

 

[Soulflarz]

This is a buck wild pro tip I never considered. holy fuck.

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You're welcome, its amazing when you need it.

 

[Deleted member 15476]

It's a feature that many people never use in general and most desktop environments avoid to highlight, maybe because they deem it confusing to regular users. They are a lot more prominent in window managers obviously, but that's a tiny % of users.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I never remember workspaces even exist because I have a dual monitor at home and tri monitor at work. Plus borderless windowed mode games are the real trick.

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I don't understand why this isn't the norm nowadays

 

[Dimajjio]

Hmm, this is interesting. Does it prevent all the weird issues you can sometimes get when running a game in fullscreen mode and ALT+TABbing out to do something else momentarily?

 

[Patitoloco]

I always forget this exists on Windows.

macOS makes it a basic command, like double click to open. If not, macOS windows are unusable lol

 

[BeI]

I use it when a game hardlocks my desktop to avoid having to reboot or having task manager always on top :^)

(task manager open and then you can suddenly use it to open another workspace with control+shift+D)

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I'm gonna have to try that the next time Skyrim Black screens. I always sorted that out by hovering over the task manager icon to see where the exe is, then clicking the icon and blindly navigating to the exe with arrow keys and clicking the Dlt key.

Do workspaces use much resources though when they aren't the active one? Like if I open Crysis 3 in one workspace, Battlefield V in another, and PUBG in another, will performance take a huge hit in all tabs because of all the games open, like it probably would if they were all in the same workspace?

 

[delete12345]

Do workspaces use much resources though when they aren't the active one?

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It uses just the same resources as if you have 1 active desktop.

 

[Dimajjio]

It's a shame it doesn't work as I wanted when running games full screen. The keys aren't active to change desktops then.

 

[jroc74]

What's wrong with Alt+Tab?

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Was my question, I see it was answered, lol.

It's a fucking lifesaver for "game that when you alt tab out of, you can't actually do anything or close anything and you can't even access the alt+ctrl+del because you can't click on it".

I also use it for productivity, but killing processes on locked up stuff like that, super useful.

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Damn, I need to start using this.

 

[nikasun :D]

So, I found out that Winkey + Tab opens a desktop overview plus the button to add a second desktop. When swtiching to the second desktop with Ctrl + Winkey + Arrow, I have the same taskbar but none of the programs from Desktop1 are open. Can I customize the task bar in Desktop2? Can it for example only host Steam etc. while Desktop1 has all my programs for work?

 

[riverfr0zen]

Yeah, workspaces have been part of my general computing for a long time now (Linux has had them forever). Using them while gaming is just a natural extension of that. I'll have a flight sim running on one workspace and can switch quickly to browse the web, check email, look at news youtube.tv, etc. etc when I'm sure my plane isn't going to crash into a mountain or something.

Actually windowing in general is pretty awesome in Gnome. For most games, you can use the window/app switcher (alt-tab) and even get windows to temporarily appear "over the fullscreen game" while the game is still running. I'm pretty happy with the situation.

 

[Ox Code]

I almost always do when I'm multitasking. Gaming is no exception

 

[delete12345]

So, I found out that Winkey + Tab opens a desktop overview plus the button to add a second desktop. When swtiching to the second desktop with Ctrl + Winkey + Arrow, I have the same taskbar but none of the programs from Desktop1 are open. Can I customize the task bar in Desktop2? Can it for example only host Steam etc. while Desktop1 has all my programs for work?

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I think you are able to... Haven't been able to play around with it, as my main computer right now is an Ubuntu terminal desktop due to remote work requirements.

 

[Dimajjio]

How are you doing it with games in fullscreen mode? Or are you running them in borderless windows?

 

[delete12345]

How are you doing it with games in fullscreen mode? Or are you running them in borderless windows?

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Just switch workspaces as you would with any other applications.

 

[Dinjoralo]

I use it when a game hardlocks my desktop to avoid having to reboot or having task manager always on top :^)

(task manager open and then you can suddenly use it to open another workspace with control+shift+D)

Click to shrink...

I was about to say this. I didn't know about the shortcut though, thanks for mentioning it.

 

[Starlatine]

never even knew that was a thing and now im glad to because sometimes older games crash when exiting or just for existing (looking at you new vegas) and my entire screen goes black and i cant use task manager to kill the process, i need to sign out and sign in again. hope this works for me!

 

[Pargon]

For Mac OS it's a vital everyday feature with dedicated buttons, even.
For Windows....it's still basically a hidden feature. I had to read 3 articles just to find out how it works because the UI is...subtle, at best. But it's cool that its there.

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It's literally the button next to the start menu.
Sure, it doesn't operate the same way that virtual desktops do on macOS, where the default "fullscreen" action is to put the application on its own desktop, but it's not exactly hidden.

I don't understand why this isn't the norm nowadays

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Legacy borderless mode sucks. It's higher latency, has lower performance, and doesn't work properly with G-Sync.
Flip-mode, on the other hand, combines most of the benefits of full-screen mode with the convenience of borderless mode (this is what "fullscreen optimizations" enables for older games).

So, I found out that Winkey + Tab opens a desktop overview plus the button to add a second desktop. When swtiching to the second desktop with Ctrl + Winkey + Arrow, I have the same taskbar but none of the programs from Desktop1 are open. Can I customize the task bar in Desktop2? Can it for example only host Steam etc. while Desktop1 has all my programs for work?

Click to shrink...

You can't have a different set of pinned applications per-desktop, but search for "multi-tasking" to bring up the options (it's in the settings app).

 

[Angelus Errare]

I use it when I'm coding but not when I'm actually playing games. One desktop might have terminal with tests and backend stuff running, another would have my IDE, and then another window has the project running. I usually keep my IDE in the middle, then terminal/tests/diagnostics on the desktop to the left, and the application to the right.

Though I do use it when games/programs crash and take the desktop with it, I'll usually just move over to another desktop when I'm too lazy to reset

 

[Niosai]

This feature would be so much better if you could actually separate your desktops. If I could have one desktop with all of the icons for productivity, and one with my icons for games I would use it so much more.

 

[nikasun :D]

This feature would be so much better if you could actually separate your desktops. If I could have one desktop with all of the icons for productivity, and one with my icons for games I would use it so much more.

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Yeah, that was my thought as well.

 

[Dimajjio]

Just switch workspaces as you would with any other applications.

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The CTRL+Windows+Arrow combo doesn't work in the one game I tried though. Maybe they have to be running as borderless fullscreen/window to do it?

 

[Crazymoogle]

In Windows 10 there's a big ol button next to the start button that lets you switch between workspaces, I wouldn't call it a hidden feature

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It's literally the button next to the start menu.
Sure, it doesn't operate the same way that virtual desktops do on macOS, where the default "fullscreen" action is to put the application on its own desktop, but it's not exactly hidden.

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Strictly speaking, you're right. If I have multiple desktops active and I click the button, I see them. But the user experience of the two approaches is a massive difference:

Mac OS

• Dedicated keyboard button (or icon, if you have the touchbar...sigh)
• The Desktop Strip is ALWAYS present, even if you have no extra desktops. The "+" button is large, visible and has a backing so you see it on top of any background.
• As Pargon mentions, any fullscreen app becomes a desktop, exposing the concept to everyone.

Windows 10

• Dedicated start menu button
• The Desktop Strip is NOT present until you make a new desktop. Instead, it's a small print "+ New Desktop" string (not even a button by looks, and it was moved, I think, in 2018?)
• Your desktops are lost on reboot
• If tablet mode is enabled for whatever reason - usually by mistake - the "+ New Desktop" is gone

At least in my professional experience I've never seen anyone use multiple desktops on Windows. It's great that it's there, but the need to reboot or logout is too great, the first time user experience is unexposed and difficult to find, and arguably most users end up just juggling multiple monitors instead.

 

[Taffy Lewis]

In Windows 10 there's a big ol button next to the start button that lets you switch between workspaces, I wouldn't call it a hidden feature

edit: I might actually be wrong about this, not sure if it's enabled by default

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It's enabled by default.

 

[Taffy Lewis]

At least in my professional experience I've never seen anyone use multiple desktops on Windows. It's great that it's there, but the need to reboot or logout is too great, the first time user experience is unexposed and difficult to find, and arguably most users end up just juggling multiple monitors instead.

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Multiple monitors are way more useful than virtual desktops.

Mac os has the problem of very inconsistent window behavior, where sometimes it takes just a single click to activate an element in an inactive window, but most of the time it takes two. Which is annoying with multiple monitors.

• Your desktops are lost on reboot
• If tablet mode is enabled for whatever reason - usually by mistake - the "+ New Desktop" is gone

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Don't reboot and disable tablet mode (there are people that use that??) are my suggestions. Windows has great sleep and hibernate functionality.

 

[Pargon]

The Desktop Strip is NOT present until you make a new desktop. Instead, it's a small print "+ New Desktop" string (not even a button by looks, and it was moved, I think, in 2018?)

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Huh, weird. I always have multiple desktops open so I thought that you must have been wrong about this, but no - it really is that bad.
There's no denying that Windows UI/UX design is a mess. It doesn't help that their designers are all using Macs instead of actually working with the OS.

Your desktops are lost on reboot

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This has a lot to do with macOS ditching legacy support so practically anything running on it supports resume/restore.
Windows has been making baby-steps towards this, which you can see if you enable the "use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update or restart" option on your user account (last thing in "sign-in options" if you search for that).

But the problem with Windows is that developers don't implement new features unless they are forced to, or it becomes convenient for them; e.g. DPI scaling doesn't get implemented until the devs upgrade to a high-DPI monitor and see how bad their application looks themselves. And scaling is implemented so that it's "good enough to work" rather than ensuring everything is pixel-perfect. macOS developers go "ooh, look at the new shiny - I want that in my app!" and start work as soon as Apple implements new features like that.
And Windows users largely rejected UWP applications which support many of these modern features by default.

Multiple monitors are way more useful than virtual desktops.

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They serve different purposes.
And I'd much rather have a big monitor than multiple monitors.

 

[Deleted member 4262]

Never used it in Windows, but in MacOS I do it all the time.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Don't reboot and disable tablet mode (there are people that use that??) are my suggestions. Windows has great sleep and hibernate functionality.

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I do appreciate the suggestion, and that is the dream, but it's completely infeasible in an office software development environment as well as WFH. Logging out is a requirement for a variety of reasons - IT mandated patches, the fact that we use complex and somewhat unstable tools to make games, and for WFH, there is switching between users, memory usage goes crazy and you end up rebooting or logging out or your significant other shuts down the computer at night. 😆

Tablet mode is visible by default on the windows notification viewer (bottom right button) and I can't tell you how many calls I've had with family where they enabled it by accident and caused various problems...