Multiple-monitor management software

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SporkySporky Frets: 27586
Just thought this might be of interest to some people here. Having gone triple-monitor for my home PC I started to find that Windows didn't offer enough flexibility as to how they can be configured, so I had me a bit of a look and can happily recommend DisplayFusion.

Among an awful lot of other things it lets you have different wallpaper and/or screensavers on each screen (with profiles), save and recall desktop icon arrangements, have customised taskbars on each monitor and do nifty things like having the mouse wrap around the outside edges (so you can go right from the right hand monitor and appear on the left hand one).

It's quite often on offer via Steam. There's a free version that's pretty good or the paid for opens up a whole load of other stuff.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    A link might be helpful I s'pose.

    http://www.displayfusion.com/
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  • That's just about the only major annoyance I have with Linux - triple-monitor setups with proper graphics acceleration on all displays simply don't work. Being stuck to two monitors bugs the hell out of me...my workaround is to have a second Windows machine controlled by Synergy.

    I'm hoping that Mir (the new display server) can sort that shit out.
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    Incidently, the combination of Windows 8 and say Start8 apparently gives a great deal of customisation options for multimonitor setups.
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    That's just about the only major annoyance I have with Linux - triple-monitor setups with proper graphics acceleration on all displays simply don't work. Being stuck to two monitors bugs the hell out of me...my workaround is to have a second Windows machine controlled by Synergy.
    Ooooh I like that ! http://synergy-foss.org/

    Looks like X-Win politics is as healthy as when I was involved 20yrs ago ;)

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-Says-No-to-Ubuntu-s-New-Display-Server-381223.shtml
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26458
    edited September 2013
    Jalapeno said:
    Ooooh I like that ! http://synergy-foss.org/

    Looks like X-Win politics is as healthy as when I was involved 20yrs ago ;)

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-Says-No-to-Ubuntu-s-New-Display-Server-381223.shtml
    Yeah, Synergy is an excellent bit of software.

    Re: Mir - yes, it's all a bit pathetic, really. I personally think that Canonical are right...X is a perfect example of the only possible result when you base your display server on a protocol rather than a versionable API. Effectively, the Wayland people are betting the house on the display world not changing as much in the next 20 years as they have in the last 20. I'm going to give Mir a shot a bit later tonight on my desktop...if multi-monitor works well on it, I'll be a happy bunny :)

    EDIT: To clarify...the open source mantra is that if you don't like the way something works, fork it or build your own - the best solution will rise to the top. It seems that applies to everything except display servers, where NIMBYism and politics rule. Wayland doesn't do half of what Canonical want a display server to do, yet they're being excoriated for trying something different and not falling in line. It's not helping Wayland's case that their shit isn't properly built yet, while Mir is going out with the biggest distro next month.
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    But the canonical one will be proprietary which is of course the most evil of evilest things - even though the free software version is inadequate rubbish which doesn't do the things people want it to do... 
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  • Myranda said:
    But the canonical one will be proprietary which is of course the most evil of evilest things - even though the free software version is inadequate rubbish which doesn't do the things people want it to do... 
    Hehe :)

    That's the ridiculous thing - "It's proprietary!" is one of the crazier accusations levelled at Mir, since it's just as open-source as Wayland. I don't understand why the usual response - "Well, if you don't like it then make yours better" - isn't getting any traction.
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    That's fine when it's a group of guys in a garage, but when those guys are employed by a company then it's immoral - like beating puppies with meat mallets shaped like Stalin and Hitler making love to a dead seal they just clubbed
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Sporky said:
    Having gone triple-monitor for my home PC
    Double monitor I can understand.  Probably find it very difficult to go back to a single monitor now.

    But *triple* ???

    What do you need 3 for??

    (actually, that's a semi-serious Q, as I have a couple of spare 22" screens here, just looking for a use!)
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  • Myranda said:
    That's fine when it's a group of guys in a garage, but when those guys are employed by a company then it's immoral - like beating puppies with meat mallets shaped like Stalin and Hitler making love to a dead seal they just clubbed
    You've reminded me how much fun it is to get you taking the piss out of techie quasi-religious fanatics. Must do this more often.

    TTony said:
    Double monitor I can understand.  Probably find it very difficult to go back to a single monitor now.

    But *triple* ???

    What do you need 3 for??

    (actually, that's a semi-serious Q, as I have a couple of spare 22" screens here, just looking for a use!)
    I could actually do with 3 on my main machine - for web development, for example, it's ridiculously handy. Code on the main screen, database/terminal log on the left, browser on the right.

    I really want to put together a 5-screen setup: 3 on my main desktop (two stacked in the middle, one on the right) and 2 on my Windows A/V machine (stacked on the left) with Synergy to share the keyboard and mouse. I may even get 6, for no better reason than to fill in the gap in the top right...

    Of course, as noted, this relies on Wayland/Mir getting their shit sorted when it comes to big multi-monitor setups.
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  • holnrewholnrew Frets: 8207
    Look at you all flashing your multiple monitors like the bloody queen. I have to get by on half a screen, and very happy about it I am too.
    My V key is broken
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    5 screens?! Bah, I think you're setting your sights too low!

    I have a dream where I have whole walls decorated with monitors... and relatives to pay for the electricity usage ... doddering foolish relatives.

    Ideally I'd like one 19" monitor in portrait for each of the websites I regularly visit... then a 6 screen 24" monitor set up... and bigger screen as a TV... and the best bit - there's no need for a lightbulb in that setup.... mwahahahahahaah
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  • Its only tangentially related but I still cant beleive that windows doesnt have a built in virtual desktop facility. Thats been standar din linux for like over a decade I think.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27586
    TTony said:
    Sporky said:
    Having gone triple-monitor for my home PC
    Double monitor I can understand.  Probably find it very difficult to go back to a single monitor now.

    But *triple* ???

    What do you need 3 for??

    (actually, that's a semi-serious Q, as I have a couple of spare 22" screens here, just looking for a use!)
    Depends what I'm doing. For games only the middle 27"er is on. For most other things the middle monitor has the main application, while the others (a 23" on each side) have reference websites, email clients, Winamp, Crimson Editor, the tool windows for the main application and so on. Dual monitors was good, but the 27 is just lovely - 2560x1440 resolution means so much more working space.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26458
    edited September 2013
    Myranda said:
    5 screens?! Bah, I think you're setting your sights too low!

    I have a dream where I have whole walls decorated with monitors... and relatives to pay for the electricity usage ... doddering foolish relatives.

    Ideally I'd like one 19" monitor in portrait for each of the websites I regularly visit... then a 6 screen 24" monitor set up... and bigger screen as a TV... and the best bit - there's no need for a lightbulb in that setup.... mwahahahahahaah
    I've found that the main problem with big (>3) multi-monitor setups is not the light, or even the electricity bill - it's the heat. I have two computers and three screens, and the room (admittedly small) gets far hotter than the rest of the house. I may have to invest in a bunch of IPS monitors, which is going to be painfully expensive.

    Its only tangentially related but I still cant beleive that windows doesnt have a built in virtual desktop facility. Thats been standar din linux for like over a decade I think.
    I remember when OS X got the feature, and a friend of mine crowed about how amazing it was and such an innovation. He was actually visibly upset when I showed him that every Linux desktop has had it since the late 90s.

    It may be uncharitable, but I enjoyed that moment. A lot.
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Sporky said:
    the 27 is just lovely - 2560x1440 resolution means so much more working space.
    Oh yes.

    I might only have 2, but they are both 27" :D
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  • I have monitor envy now. Not that the desk in my tiny office could hold 2 monitors, let alone 3.
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    Myranda said:
    5 screens?! Bah, I think you're setting your sights too low!

    I have a dream where I have whole walls decorated with monitors... and relatives to pay for the electricity usage ... doddering foolish relatives.

    Ideally I'd like one 19" monitor in portrait for each of the websites I regularly visit... then a 6 screen 24" monitor set up... and bigger screen as a TV... and the best bit - there's no need for a lightbulb in that setup.... mwahahahahahaah
    I've found that the main problem with big (>3) multi-monitor setups is not the light, or even the electricity bill - it's the heat. I have two computers and three screens, and the room (admittedly small) gets far hotter than the rest of the house. I may have to invest in a bunch of IPS monitors, which is going to be painfully expensive.

    Its only tangentially related but I still cant beleive that windows doesnt have a built in virtual desktop facility. Thats been standar din linux for like over a decade I think.
    I remember when OS X got the feature, and a friend of mine crowed about how amazing it was and such an innovation. He was actually visibly upset when I showed him that every Linux desktop has had it since the late 90s.

    It may be uncharitable, but I enjoyed that moment. A lot.
    LED backlit monitors produce virtually no heat... problem solved
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  • Myranda said:
    LED backlit monitors produce virtually no heat... problem solved
    Yeah...I guess that would be cheaper. I'm upset that I didn't think of that. I prefer 1920x1200 and 1680x1050 - I hate the new 16:9 ratio monitors, and I didn't think there were any reasonably-priced LED monitors at those resolutions. Turns out I was wrong...
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378

    Of course, as noted, this relies on Wayland/Mir getting their shit sorted when it comes to big multi-monitor setups.
    Given the pitiful history of X-Windows I wouldn't hold your breath - I remember Motif vs so called "Openwindows" wars back in the 1990s !!!!
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