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

@ NiqueXyZ: try Chrome 17.0.963.46 beta, where either they fixed that, or it's a google developer bug

But I use this version of chrome when I want to browse in fullscreen mode and watch internet TV on the other monitor (as one should be able to do). Cheers!

Erm...that's not running chrome in full screen mode, that's running an adobe flash video in full screen mode.

Flash has had this ability for a long time now, you can do this in any mac browser (including safari).

It's a browser plug-in, which is why it works this way.

Just to clarify (again), full screen mode in lion means clicking the double arrow diagonal icon in the upper right hand corner of a window.

http://gilsmethod.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/switch-full -screen-mode-mac-lion.jpg

It does *not* mean running a window in fully maximized mode (ie. clicking the + green icon in the upper left hand corner), or running a browser plug-in in full screen, or anything else.  When we say "full screen mode" we are specifically talking about what happens when you tap the double diagonal arrow button, and absolutely, positively, nothing else.

@ NiqueXyZ: I need no explaination of what fullscreen is but thx. The proof is below...

screen 1: Chrome beta:

Screen 2: whatever you want, tv, itunes, whatever:

...But any combination can be used. I think this is what users want, from reading this forum. However, it only works with the Chrome beta (apparently). Cheers!

It worked yesterday! But what happened today???

I bought my MBP 13 yesterday and last night I watched movie on my HDTV while I browsed on MBP screen. I was using VLC. BUT tonight its just not working at all. Making anything fullscreen brings it back to MBP screen.

I think this is a severely bad bug. Can anyone please explain how it worked last night? I'm trying to find out but I just don't see any reason for it. I didn't change any settings anywhere.

Now how on earth am I going to watch anything on HDTV? This is so stupid that Apple should just giveup the "most advanced OS" crap! Idiots!

coocooforcocoapuffs wrote:

 

@ NiqueXyZ: I need no explaination of what fullscreen is but thx. The proof is below...

screen 1: Chrome beta:

Are you using the Chrome full screen command or the Lion full screen command?

The problem in this thread is about the Lion full screen command. Applications that have their own full screen command, like Chrome, Photoshop, etc. generally provide a superior and better-behaved full screen experience than Lion. They take up their own single screen, and free up the rest. But it depends on individual apps having their own full screen mode, which is not what Lion full screen mode is about.

The solution people are looking for here is one that can solve this problem at the system level, for all apps.

The way I understand it, there is just one lion FS with an api available for apps to use. Apple has implemented in one way, and Google another. Within apple apps, the implementation is not even consistent, as can be noted by trying FS within the range of apple apps. So it seems what should be done is for Apple to listen to folks and implement more like chrome, and not like safari:

Has anyone checked out the Mountain Lion preview?  I downloaded it but I don't want to install it on my macbook air.  I'm going to try it out on an iMac at work and I guess let you guys know if this has been fixed or not if I can.

My best guess is that, if this *hasn't* been fixed in the 10.8 preview, it won't ever be.

Well, thankfully on VLC I found the setting where you can tell it to run fullscreen video on the second monitor and it does that perfectly.

Problem is then when you are not connected to a second screen you don't see VLC video on your MBP screen until you change that setting and tell it to show full screen on the 1st screen.

I tell ya, I just switched to Mac 2 days ago and I am seeing all these STUPID self imposed limitations on OS X that is shocking me to the bones. Did not expect these idiotic designs from Apple's "most advanced OS in the world". Its making me think twice about the switch, but I am commited to Mac only because of its stability + efficiency.

Samhaque

I fee your pain.  I switched in Noveber of last year, also for stability and efficiency.  I was also using a 4 year old bought it refurbed, dual core dell, so I just needed a faster computer.  I work on the computer all day long and still believe that the other platform actually allows me to work faster.  All of the things I didn't like are just as bad here, sometimes even worse.  Keystrokes are less intuitive and more convoluted, use of the screen real estate does has all sorts of odd issues, and they change from application to application (read less consistency).  I'm hoping that before too very long muscle memory starts to develop for this new OS. 

I should have bought the kool-aid option.  Best of luck to you. 

coocooforcocoapuffs wrote:

 

The way I understand it, there is just one lion FS with an api available for apps to use. Apple has implemented in one way, and Google another.

There is just one Lion FS with an API...but I know for a fact that developers are not required to use it. Because I can use the full screen modes in apps like Photoshop which are their own, and they work in Lion. Chrome is another app that already has its own full screen mode (works in Snow Leopard where there is no Apple FSM), and that's why I wonder if the controls look the same but the underlying Chrome function is its own full screen, rather than the crippled Apple full screen mode.

It may not be because Chrome figured out how to make Apple full screen mode work right, but simply ignoring it and doing their own, like Photoshop.

Thank you, same to you. I'm hoping the same. Mac is the better place to be even with all the shortcomings that are all self imposed. Its just extremely surprising that Windows is actually better than OS X in all the flexibility it offers.

samhaque wrote:

 

Its just extremely surprising that Windows is actually better than OS X in all the flexibility it offers.

In some ways, it isn't surprising. There's this concept called the Paradox of Choice that says that people are generally less happy when they are presented with a large number of choices. A rough analogy is that if you live in a small town it is easy to just get married, but in a big city you take longer to settle down because of all the possible mates. Apple has heavily used this concept by paring down their product names, product lines, UI flexibility, etc. so that there are fewer choices. According to the paradox of choice, Apple's "simple/easy" approach helps people make a purchase decision faster, and they feel better about it afterwards. If you believe the Paradox, then the "increased amount of choice" in both Windows and Android actually works against them in some market segments.

The lack of flexibility is not appealing to power users, however. But we're not the majority.

Anyway, welcome to the Mac. If you want to maximize your flexibility on the Mac, I suggest two things: Macupdate.com, where all kinds of customization utilities can be downloaded, many of which are not available in the Mac App Store; and if you really want to dig into the Mac, learn the Terminal app and how to work the Unix command line in it. There is still a fair amount of under-the-hood user tweakage that is possible in OS X.

Thanks for the welcome Network 23

I know what you mean. No need for 10 different ways of doing something if there is one way that works the best. But keep in mind, this must be practiced very carefully. Apple obviously went overboard with a few things.

When an advanced OS can't do what you consider to be a rudimentary feature, thats too much limitation, and not at all acceptable. This is where things take the ugly turn to some form of Despotism. Sounds extreme but in essense, its exactly that.

The only proof you need that Apple goes a bit too far with these limitations is when a Windows convert has to say, "uh oh, this can't be done here, oh well"; and I've said that half a dozen times at least in the last 2 days.

To give you a very simple and extremely annoying example off the top of my head is the inablity to MOVE files instead of having to COPY then go back and DELETE. Holding the commad key is not the answer since it doesn't work when there is a overwriting situation, its also a cumbersome process involving both hands. OS X simply doesn't have a convenient way of moving files. I stared at the screen for a full minute in utter shock when I realised this. Its a shame when you have to look for workarounds for simple things like this.

And that is another thing I notice. These forums are full of the word WORKAROUND. That should tell you something about how the users feel about OS X.

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2581/os_x_move_files_instead_copying/

samhaque wrote:

 

To give you a very simple and extremely annoying example off the top of my head is the inablity to MOVE files instead of having to COPY then go back and DELETE...Its a shame when you have to look for workarounds for simple things like this.

I agree. I don't run Windows much, but I prefer how Windows lets you right-drag and you get a nice little menu to control move vs. copy. As you encounter these areas where Windows does something better than the Mac, I am sorry you will now be facing the Mac fanboys in forums who will try to rationalize these things and insist beyond reason that the Windows method is somehow worse. Hopefully you will continue to find the overall Mac experience to be net positive.

This an absolutely mind-blowingly broken behaviour for handling full-screen. It's a bug to my mind, plain and simple. In fact it's not even a bug, it's a huge UX/UI oversight. Why on earth should full-screening an app on my primary display replace whatever is on my secondary display with a weird fabric pattern? Why should I not be able to full screen an app on whatever display it happens to be on at the time?

And most important, why has this not been fixed yet?