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

1) connect a second monitor

2) run mail (or any other application)

3) maximise it

4) look,  I've got a kitchen worktop for a secondary monitor.

5) This is totally bone headed on the part of Apple,  who obviously don't give any tax (topical:^)

I agree. I just added a second monitor to my 2011 Mac mini running OS X "Lion". I noticed the full screen video issue immediately. I appreciate your tip, thanks.

I think users are being overly picky. With the full screen video issue out of the way, I have no problem using Dual Displays as is. It is still very handy. I don't need to run my apps in full screen; maximized or resized is just fine.

Just for the record, I think adding these tablet features to OS X is dumb. I don't want to use touch on my desktop/laptop; I don't want to soil the screen with fingerprint smudges; I don't want to tire my arms reaching for the screen. I see no value in running apps in full screen (with the exception of video playback). I've used Mac and Windows for many years and I have never missed this full screen feature; I never will.

getbarrett wrote:

 

Just a thought/question... Have you considered just not using Lion's "fullscreen" with an app? Wouldn't that be like is was with SL in terms of external displays? Just drag to position and maximize the window and re-size as you wish?

It seems to me that Apple did not take away or "break" any feature so much as added one and it's just not working in the exact way that people want it to. I think they designed fullscreen with MacBooks in mind where screen real estate is precious. I do know that in Mountain Lion, you can choose which monitor you want the fullscreen app to open on which is different from Lion, but it still keeps the other monitor as part of that same app. For example, if you open iPhoto and take it fullscreen, you can have the photo browser on one monitor and editing HUD, toolbars, etc. on the other.

 

In terms of watching video full screen with Lion...

 

With Quicktime, just drag video window to the monitor you'd like to use and choose View -> Fit to Screen

 

With VLC (2.0):

1) VLC -> Preferences... Interface > uncheck "Use native fullscreen on OS X Lion"

2) Video > uncheck "Black screens in Fullscreen"

3) Fullscreen Video Device = choose which monitor you want to use

4) SAVE, exit and then re-launch VLC

 

Every time something changes – especially big changes like a whole OS – and I don't particularly like a feature or wish it were different, I have to remind myself that Apple is not forcing me to buy their products. It is a choice and if I don't like it, I can send them feedback (which they are not forced to listen too), not upgrade or use something else. I certainly don't take it personally or think that "Apple doesn't care about it's users". It seems to me the opposite is true.

 

And if you disagree with me, okay, but please don't be mean! Life's too short. It's just a computer.

Is this the current state of affairs with Macs? I am about to either build a DIY beast of a Windows PC or get a Mac desktop, but either way, I must have 3 monitors. My current triple-monitor Win7 is a dream, just too slow and old for HD editing.

I did a search for Mac Mulitple monitors and found a lot of very disconcerting threads in this Apple support area. Looks like this may have helped me make a decision. I think I just dodged a bullet.

Does FCP have native support for triple monitors or Adobe Premiere on Mac?

I use Adobe PP and other Adobe software a lot using multiple monitors (2 or 3) and multiple virtual desktops on Mac.  It's great, works fantastic. 

The problem is that there's a specific "make the app completely borderless and fullscreen" function that doesn't really work how most people  want it to when there's multiple monitors.  It's worst if you want to playback video on one screen like it was a tv (no menu bars and such) and keep working on the other one.  The "totally borderless fullscreen" thing makes your app behave a bit like an iPad - just the app, no OS toolbars.  It's a godsend on a small laptop where screen space is precious.  Not much use on a multiple monitor pro setup - but nobody's forcing you to use it.

When video editing I'm doing in in HD pixel for pixel, so I never want to blow it up fullscreen anyway. I just use all the screens to arrange all my Finder windows and all the millions of little Adobe palettes, and I want access to all the menu bars.

I wouldn't let this thread stop you using a mac in a pro madia production environment.  Also note that there's rumors of some fixes for this in the next version anyway.

So, is this solved today?  Seems like it. Hallelujah, if so.

50 pages and 700+ messages, it's a revolution...

... but still no change. Just made the update to 10.8.4, and this issue obviously has not been addressed.

Sorry, this bugfix will cost you $29 and will be available this fall, but the cool thing that it has a name: Mavericks

Thrilled. So happy this was addressed. Looks like Apple is getting back to its roots. Keynote specifically mentioned "power users" several times. Good times are back. Eddy is the man.

I'm thrilled too with the new Fullscreen on multiple displays feature... Apple rises like a Phoenix...

I hope so.  Devil is in the details - and, hopefully, the Preferences panel! 

• Can displays be linked for cases when you do want them to act as one big screen?
  • I still want this when I'm using multiple, identical monitors next to each other.
  • Will it (and apps) treat them as a single screen - e.g. single wallpaper, full-screen takes up both?
• Will they fix other full-screen bugs
  • I use full-screen all the time on my rMBP for extra screen space and it ***** when I'm in mail and start writing a message and want to look at other messages.  I can't get to them unless I save and "cancel" the new message, get mail out of full-screen, and then find the message in my drafts folder.

Today I read at "http://www.apple.com/osx/preview/";

==============

Multiple displays

Do more on this screen. And that one.

OS X Mavericks takes full advantage of every display connected to your Mac, giving you even more flexibility to work the way you want. There’s no longer a primary or secondary display — now each has its own menu bar, and the Dock is available on whichever screen you’re working on. You can have multiple app windows running on either display. Or run an app full screen on each one. Even show a desktop on one display and a full-screen app on another. Mission Control can give you a bird’s-eye view, making it easy to drag what you want where you want it. You can even drag it across the room, because now AirPlay and Apple TV can wirelessly turn your HDTV into a fully functional display.

===============

If you can make an app go full screen on a monitor and continue to use the other monitor(s) independently, then I too will be pleased that this has been addressed.  If there are additional monitor/display features that speak to power users' needs then I will be doubly pleased.

In effect Apple will have fixed a "bug" or "downgraded display funcitionality" that Apple itself introduced to use (imposed upon us?) with successive OSX updates (10.7.x & 10.8.x). That's what I was looking for.

If, as SebCorbin says above, it will cost me US$29 to obtain this fix I will not be so pleased.  Granted the cost is nowhere near the cost of a Microsoft Windows OS Upgade.

Still, I believe I should not have to pay for a fix to a problem I flagged with Apple Care some time back (as did many, I understand). Now that the fix has been announced, Apple Care should, I think, provide it to me at no cost.

Well, whoop-de-doo. Apple seem to be using the bug tracker as a way to add new 'groundbreaking' features to their next OS and charging you $29 for the fix - if they decide to even let your machine run it.

Mavericks indeed. (Definition: One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group - the Apple user base submitting bugs, if you will.)

Tell you what, much as I like using the Mac OS, there is literally no reason I could recommend to any business any more. I don't remember the last time Mac did something to address the issues I've experienced. Bug reports ignored, hard drives going down after 6 months, server updates killing services, certs expiring, you name it I've wasted too much time supporting it. No wonder its $29 for the OS. I'd rather pay $329 and get a support team.

/rant

Can't confirm.

Can't confirm what CT? I can confirm the last para whole heartedly, but of course the first two are an educated guess, based on my personal experiences and observations. Google 'Lion Broke Screen Sharing' and see how many people got ignored there until Mountain Lion came out and charged people $29 to fix the issue