About 4 years ago I got a 13.3" Thinkpad laptop to replace an old Chromebook for portable development, and installed Arch + i3 on it (btw). After a bit of ricing the configs, it started feeling really homey. I love using workspaces here! They feel perfectly suited for laptop screens which have minimal space, allowing me to keep my browser full-screen and my IDE full-screen while still quickly switching back and forth to reference one or the other.

On the other hand, I don’t really use workspaces when I’m on my desktop PC (I use a 27" monitor). I just installed KDE to get ahead of the Windows 10 EOL, and while I looked into combining i3 and KDE, I haven’t really felt the need for i3’s workspaces or using KDE’s virtual desktops. With a 27" monitor, I feel like there’s enough space to split my browser and IDE half-and-half on screen, and I’m ok using a file browser or terminal window as floating windows. Another consideration is that I’m always using a mouse on my desktop, so switching between workspaces with the keyboard wouldn’t feel as natural.

What about you? Do you use workspaces differently between devices? Does screen size affect your choices at all?

  • daredevil@kbin.social
    3·
    1 year ago

    I use workspaces everyday as a context switcher for related apps and programs. An example would be a “main focus” workspace that includes whatever project I’m working along including any relevant documentation or browser windows. When it’s time to take a break, I have a separate workspace for stuff like kbin or messaging platforms.

    Another consideration is that I’m always using a mouse on my desktop, so switching between workspaces with the keyboard wouldn’t feel as natural.

    I use hot corners for this reason. Dragging my mouse to one of the corners of the screen brings up the workspaces interface.