Spaces (software)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spaces

A screenshot of Spaces on Mac OS X "Leopard"
Developed by Apple Inc.
OS Mac OS X
Genre Virtual desktop
License Proprietary
Website http://www.apple.com/.../spaces.html

Spaces[1] is a virtual desktop feature developed by Apple Inc. and is an integral part of Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard". It was announced by Steve Jobs during the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Spaces enables users to set up virtual desktops (or "spaces") suited to particular needs of the user, without the need of creating a new account. One could for example create a "space" primarily assigned to office work and then switch to a different one focused on web surfing. Up to 16 spaces can be created, and applications can be bound to specific spaces.

[edit] Use

Applications or windows can be put into a different "space" simply by dragging the window to the edge of the screen. "Spaces" can also be activated by pressing F8. Spaces also works effectively with Exposé, another Mac OS X feature, where you can see the windows of each space scaled down while looking at each a scaled down version of each space.

[edit] Comparison

Although Spaces is a new feature in Mac OS 10.5, it can be noted that virtual desktops have existed for quite some time for Linux, BeOS, and as 3rd party software for the Mac OS[2] and Windows.[3] It has been a standard feature on UNIX desktops for a number of years.[4] The first virtual desktop created for Mac OS was in 1986, by Wes Boyd (the future founder of Berkeley Systems).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Apple.com: Leopard Sneak Peek - Spaces
  2. ^ Spaces: A look at Apple's take on virtual desktops
  3. ^ Multiple Desktop Support in Windows
  4. ^ redhat.com: Red Hat Linux 6.1 Getting Started Guide, 1999.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Mac OS X
Applications
Utilities
Technology and
user interface