Linux Workspaces
I just had a major ah-ha moment with regards to the utility of Linux workspaces. If you’re not familiar with workspaces, here’s a background. Workspaces are a way to preserve your valuable monitor space through the use of a series of different concurrent desktops. When you have multiple applications open, you have the opportunity to allocate one or more of them to a unique workspace and quickly switch between the two using CTL + ALT + Left/Right Arrow keys.
Up until now I’d seen this as a potentially useful feature, but one that I didn’t have an immediate need for. However having spent a great deal of time tinkering with virtual machines through the fabulous VirtualBox over the last few days, I’ve just discovered a real use for workspaces.
In VirtualBox you have the option of going full screen to maximise the screenspace of the virtual machine. However in doing this it poses an immediate conflict with the prospect of trying to run other applications natively in the same workspace at the same time.
By using multiple workspaces and the quick switch key shortcuts you’re able to capitalise on the full-screen mode of the virtual machine while continuing to use native applications.
