Dual monitors and fullscreen fiasco, is there a work around?

Yes - it should allow you to choose either mode. In my office, I've got two identical, external monitors that I want it to treat as a single display - including putting wallpaper across both. Why is that so difficult.

In meetings, I need to connect to a video projector. In that mode, I want the external display (the projector) running an app in fullscreen (and not just to watch a movie!! Why does everyone in this forum think the only use is to watch movies on one screen???) while the internal monitor can be running other apps and switching spaces independently without screwing up what people are seeing on the projector.

My laptop at work was just upgraded from XP to Win7 and I see greatly improved multi-screen support from MS. Why can't Apple do as well?

unfrostedpoptart wrote:

My laptop at work was just upgraded from XP to Win7 and I see greatly improved multi-screen support from MS. Why can't Apple do as well?

Rest assured, Microsoft followed Apple's trend in Windows 8. While the classic desktop still works as one would expect, the Start screen tiled apps do the fullscreen thing. Annoying.

It's as though Apple and MS have convinced themselves that we're in a post-PC world WHILE USING THE BLASTED THINGS.

Sowwy for yelling. 😝

Hm, I can have two application in maximized mode on my two screens (it is the green dot 🙂 upper left corner)

What I found annoying with Windows is simply: have two monitors, have a pdf open, maximize it, it is spanning over the two screens, the edges are somewhere in the middle of the document - I do not really think that is a great thing.

Then, I do not judge an OS in regards the wallpaper - others do, but might be looking good when the screen has small edges. I "enjoy" to have different wallpapers for each desktop and even for the screens.

But that is not the thing what the most people here describing it as a fiasco.

What I would see as a good option, to have the screens handled separately - means, the four-finger wipe on the trackpad, two-finger on magic mouse would just have effect on the screen where the mouse has the focus. That would be great. But also to move an application between the screens like now, just move at the edge

The option of @imajeber: only the first one sounds logic to me or wishable 🙂, the second , hm , I do not see an advantage to the current on. If you talk about an array, then it should be two dimensional, isnt it ? How should it move then? Only display or the other too ?

+1 for an update. I like using fullscreen for the extra screen real estate when using my smaller 13" mbp screen, but obviously don't want to render my larger external monitor useless in the process 🙂

730,000+ and over 700 replies and not a word from Apple - so much for customer support.

Perhaps I was a tad hasty moving to OS X ... Ubuntu is looking better every day.

From the weird "Duplicate"/"Save As" changes, the totally useless Fullscreen (at least on dual monitors), all the while neglecting the now elderly Finder and hopelessly outdated HPFS, I don't know who is setting priorities in Cupertino but it's time to refocus: less fluff and more solid engineering. Fundamentally, I don't want my laptop to behave the same way as my iPad: they aren't the same thing, and shouldn't try to behave like they are. Each has strengths that shouldn't be sacrificed to achieve some homogonized look and feel: in reality these changes have left Mountain Lion with a host of awkward (putting it kindly) tablet-like features that feel totally out of place on the desktop.

Trying to be all things to all people will only harm both laptops and tablets - Apple should strive to build the best product in each category, not trash OS X to achieve "compatibilty" with iOS.

dp9 wrote:

Apple Menu > System Preferences > Displays > Arrangement > Mirror Displays (check box)

Did you know that ⌘+[Reduce Display Brightness] will toggle screen mirroring on an Apple keyboard? (i.e. ⌘+F1 unless you have changed the use F keys as standard function keys preference).

I don't consider this an acceptable workaround as I want to use the space on both screens, but if it works for you then I hope this helps!

dp9 wrote:

Apple Menu > System Preferences > Displays > Arrangement > Mirror Displays (check box)

Not quite what I expected after paying a grand for a Thunderbolt display.

Fullscreen worked fine back in Snow Leopard and was only "improved" after some idiot at Apple decided "Fullscreen" apps on desktops had to look more like they do on tablets, completely ignoring dual monitor configs.

Now every time we use fullscreen, the other monitor goes blank to remind us of Apple's stupidity and intransigence.

Way to go, Apple!

A while ago I used MegaZoomer (http://noscope.com/2007/fullscreen-on-macosx-finally-no-just-megazoomer/)

it worked perfectly on Cocoa apps and Multi monitor and it was open source and free... You just had to click CMD+Return and the window went fullscreen on the display it was on. Then apple's fancy highly paid engineers came and took it upon themselves and screwed it all up in Lion... plus Megazoomer stopped working in Lion... they should have just hired the people who made Megazoomer, cause that's how fullscreen is supposed to work, simple, instead they complicated stuff and made crippled fullscreen. Apple is becoming the new Microsoft from the 90s... stiff and all about control and dominance.

yea, I agree, it's all up to SIMBL not being compatible with Lion, but they're GNU public license so it's not like there's a lot of money for those guys developing this, I don't blame them for finding smarter things to do in their lives... I loved all the other SIMBL plugins people made

I was quite dissapointed to find that this thread existed. I cannot stand the full screen backout all other screens behaviour. makes no sense. I would call it a bug, because that is how badly I think this works, regardless of apple's intent. on a laptop or desktop I prefer to use multiple monitors, and would prefer full screen mode to take all of the space (remove the window edges etc) and work on a second at the same time... my work around, honestly, it is easier to grab a PC or boot in bootcamp windows instead, becasue it works the right way when it comes to mutiple monitors. allowing full screen on the application's monitor while continuing to use the others for work or taking notes should at least be an option.

Absolutely. Apple definitely doesn't consider it broken for sure.

And its not counter intutive you see, My eclipse on my third monitor, and having to move two screens to get to options for the eclipse is so natural!

"Absolutely. Apple definitely doesn't consider it broken for sure"

You mean like this?

http://www.cultofmac.com/196267/apple-is-absolutely-aware-fullscreen-mac-apps-on -multiple-monitors-leaves-much-to-be-desired/

Jason Gallagher3 wrote:

"Absolutely. Apple definitely doesn't consider it broken for sure"

You mean like this?

http://www.cultofmac.com/196267/apple-is-absolutely-aware-fullscreen-mac-apps-on -multiple-monitors-leaves-much-to-be-desired/

Yeah, exactly like that. Twenty months later, the problem remains. They'll acknowledge that folks are passionate about the problem, but won't actually resolve it. After all, in an Apple world, everybody uses a single display and absolutely wants OS X to look and feel just like iOS.

'Scuse me while I go brush my teeth to get rid of the bile that just arose.

Relief in the pipeline?

From http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/29/apple-to-update-os-x-with-new-power-user-features- more-from-ios-later-this-year/

"The ability to keep a different “Space” or full-screen app open on a different monitor (in multiple monitor setups) is another important power-user feature coming in 10.9."

At least it looks like it might get fixed at some point in the future, but every time an apple update comes out i worry what'll be casually boken next!!

shame on apple for making it impossible to efficiently use screen real estate (as we were able to do in Snow Leopard) in a product they sold me that marketed itself as increasing my screen real estate. double plus shame on them for charging us to fix the problem and not until two years' later.