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Iḿ not sure if my question explains what I would like to do so please:

I find myself constantly working with two different applications at the same time and if I want to see them both simultaneously, assuming I only have one physical monitor, I have to manually resize and position both applications in order for them them not to cover each other; then I open a third app and a fourth and the mess starts.

I know I can probably use a different desktop for the first two apps I want simultaneously displayed and manually switch desktops but I would better like to be able to configure my screen so that it will allow me to have two "sub-desktops" active at the same time, displaying simultaneously, at the one physical screen. Then I could open one app in one sub-desktop, and the second one in the second sub-desktop and maximizing any app will cover only the section of its predefined sub-desktop...

  • Is it possible to configure this behaiviour in Unity?
  • Can it be done programmatically maybe? If so, can you point me in the right direction?

I think this could be a nice feature to have for many.

I appreciate your attention.

imind
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1 Answers1

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Last time I checked, in Unity you could drag a window by its title to the left/right edge of screen and have it maximized to only 1/2 of the screen. Also, dragging a window to a corner of the screen would maximize it to only 1/4 of the screen.

There are also keyboard shortcuts which allow you to position windows with keyboard:

Window Placement

If you cycle through the same key Unity will cycle through different placement widths, so experiment by hitting the numkey multiple times, for example Ctrl-Alt-numpad 5 5 5:

  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 7 - Place window in top left corner of screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 8 - Place window in top half of screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 9 - Place window in top right corner of screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 5 - Center/Maximize the window in the middle of the screen. In 12.04 this toggles between maximize and restore state
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 1 - Place window in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 2 - Place window in the bottom half of the screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 3 - Place window in the bottom right corner of the screen.
  • Ctrl-Alt-Numpad 0 - Minimize the current window (Ubuntu 12.04.1).

This would allow you to quickly position windows so they don't overlap, which basically achieves the same as your "sub-desktops" idea.

If you want to go further, then Welcome to the Wonderful World of Tiling Window Managers :) Just google for XMonad for a start.

Community
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Sergey
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