Unless you come from a *nix background, you may not be familiar with virtual desktops. Basically, it’s more real estate for your desktop. Typically, you have four or more extra desktops that you can place open applications on and then switch back and forth between them with a mouse click or a keystroke. Before duel monitor set-ups were common, virtual desktops were a boon to productivity.
If you were a Windows or Mac user though, this kind of thing was apparently considered too confusing for you as neither OS allows you to have virtual desktops as a part of their system. However, there are some valid options on both Windows and Mac to give you a decent implementation of virtual desktops.
On Windows you can go straight to Microsoft and get their MSVDM (Microsoft, Virtual, Desktop, Manager), as a part of their Power Toys package. I use this program on my work PC and it is well thought out and implemented. Unfortunately, it only allows for a total of four desktops.
On Mac, you have a number of options but I will only mention the one that I use on my MacBook – VirtueDekstops. This solution is free and easy to master. I only wish it had a pager like my beloved Gnome. But the top menu bar in OSX is terribly crowded and I don’t see where there would be any room, at least on my 13″ lappy.
Let me know what virtual desktop program you use and why you like it better than what I’m using.
I use Desktop Manager, you can get the Universal Binary here:
http://test.lamer0.com/files/Desktop%20Manager.zip