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10.2's implementation of virtual desktops with Desktop Effects]] A virtual desktop is a term used, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which a Computer 's Desktop Environment is expanded through the use of software. In addition to what is provided by the computer's physical hardware display, virtual desktops provide a "virtual" space, in which the user can place their applications' windows. Each virtual desktop occupies a defined portion of the screen arranged in a matrix or grid. Application windows and icons can be moved between desktops, increasing a user's ability to organize their windowed applications that are currently running by reducing clutter. TYPES OF VIRTUAL DESKTOPS Switching desktops Switchable desktops were designed and implemented at Xerox PARC as "Rooms" by D.A. Henderson and Stuart Card in 1986D. Austin Henderson, Jr., Stuart Card (1986) Rooms: the use of multiple virtual workspaces to reduce space contention in a window-based graphical user interface ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG) based upon work by P.P. Chan in 1984. This work was covered by a US patent User interface with multiple workspaces for sharing display system objects , US Patent 5,533,183. Switchable desktops were introduced to a much larger audience by Summer. Rather than simply being placed at an x,y position on the computer's display, windows of running applications are then placed at x,y positions on a given virtual desktop “context”. They are then only accessible to the user if that particular context is enabled. A switching desktop provides a way for the user to switch between "contexts", or pages of screen space, only one of which can be displayed on the computer's display at any given time. Scrolling desktops Other kinds of virtual desktop environments do not offer discrete virtual screens, but instead make it possible to "scroll" around a view that is larger than the available hardware is capable of displaying. For example, if a Graphics Card has a maximum resolution that is higher than the monitor's display resolution, the virtual desktop manager may allow windows to be placed "off the edge" of the screen. The user can then scroll to them by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the display. Dragging desktops A feature of AmigaOS, called “draggable screens” where desktops themselves were treated as a movable (vertically only) view, and could be moved aside in order to access a other desktops “behind” the first. This feature allowed users to open programs on their own screen using any resolution and color depth they needed. In addition to being able to cycle through desktops like Desktop Switching, the user has the ability to pull down entire screens with the mouse thus revealing other screens that were behind them while still having access to the original screen space. The limit to the number of screens was limited by available video ("chip ram") memory, and the process was completely hardware assisted resulting in lighting fast response time. IMPLEMENTATION Virtual desktop managers are available for most Graphical User Interface Operating Systems and offer various features, such as placing different wallpapers for each virtual desktop and use of hotkeys or other convenient methods to allow the user to switch amongst the different screens. Amiga The first platform to implement desktop scrolling as a hardware feature was introduced officially a scrolling desktop in 1990 with Kickstart 2.0x. X Window System Almost all Unix-like systems use the X Window System to provide their windowing environment. The X Window System is unique in that the decoration, placement, and management of windows are handled by a separate, replaceable program known as a Window Manager . This separation allowed third-party developers to introduce a host of different window manager features, resulting in the early development of virtual desktop capabilities in X. Many of today's X window managers now include virtual desktop capabilities. Configurations range from as few as two virtual desktops to several hundred. The most popular Desktop Environment s, GNOME and KDE , use multiple virtual desktops (four by default). Some window managers, like FVWM , offer separate "desks" that allow the user to organize applications even further. For example, a user may have separate desks labeled "Work" and "Home", with the same programs running on both desks, but fulfilling different functions. Windows on Windows Vista .]] Microsoft Windows does not implement virtual desktops at installation time. Microsoft provides a virtual desktop PowerToy (for Windows XP), a software-based virtual desktop manager, which simulates many desktops, by minimizing and maximizing windows in groups, each groups begin a different desktop. However, the functionality provided is less comprehensive than that of many other virtual desktop solutions (e.g. missing functionality to move windows to another desktop, maintain a window in a given desktop even when its application bar button flashes, etc...). Application compatibility problems are common, because application developers do not expect virtual desktops to be in use on the Windows platform. There are many third-party virtual desktop products for Windows:
Many Desktop Shell Replacement s for Windows, including LiteStep , Bblean , GeoShell , SharpE and many others, support virtual desktops via optional modules. Mac OS in Mac OS X "Leopard"]] Scrolling desktops were made available to Macintosh users by a 3rd party extension called Stepping Out created by Wes Boyd (the future founder of Berkeley Systems ) in 1986 . The code for this extension was integrated by Apple into a later version of the Mac OS, although the ability to create virtual desktops larger than the screen was removed. The code was used instead as an assist for visually impaired users to zoom into portions of the desktop and view them as larger, more easily discerned images. At the 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference , Apple Computer announced Mac OS X V10.5 will ship with native virtual desktop support, to be called " Spaces " Mac OS X - Leopard Sneak Peek - Spaces , apple.com Alternately, third-party programs such as Desktop Manager or VirtueDesktops may be used. Solaris Sun Microsystem's Solaris has an implementation of virtual desktops in the task bar. BeOS Be Incorporated's BeOS includes an implementation of virtual desktops called "Workspaces". Up to 32 different Workspaces are supported. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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