Desktop Backgrounds not working properly in Aperture/Mountain Lion

Is there any way that Apple themselves will find out about this problem and do something? It seems some people are having it with clean installs as well which suggests it's a Mac OS/Aperture issue and not just a user issue. It's a bit pointless fighting the Mac cause as them being better than PC's when we can't do something as elementary as changing the desktop background!

Anyway here's what I'm gonna try.

1. Deleting all my desktops and just having the one. Assigning an Aperture photo from the choose desktop background dialogue. (Not from the desktop background option within Aperture - I know that works.) Does that retain the photo after several reboots? If yes, then try adding the desktops with different photo backgrounds again. If no, then

2. Does assigning aperture to all desktops work, then changing the pictures separately for each desktop? If it does, then I can change my pictures, and then reassign Aperture to the desktop I want it on. All should (?!?) be hunky dory. I'll let you guys know what happens.

Success! Well sort of. I went into Mission Control Preference Pane (in System Preferences) and fiddled about with a few ticks. The one that seemed to make the difference was the one called Show Dashboard As A Space. Make sure it's ticked. This is a bit of a bummer if you want multiple desktops with different personalised photo backgrounds but you don't want the dashboard as a space. It's still a fault Apple! So if someone finds this solved their issues then please don't mark the post as "this solved my problem", maybe just "this helped".

Because the issue is not resolved for those who don't want the dashboard as a space - those people can only have Apple's own backgrounds on their desktops! And it is worth point out that without the Show Desktop As Space box ticked, even with Mission Control set to just one background, the Aperture photo would not be reatained through log out and restart etc. AND the actual Desktop/Screen Saver preference dialogue box didn't work properly, taking ages to select a picture and the picture not changing on the background itself until the user threatens to exit the box. As I say though it all went swimmingly with the Show desktop as space box ticked.

Dear oh dear Apple, with every step "forward" you take there's always the odd lurch backwards into the murky days of Windows 1.0!

Well unfortunately I spoke too soon! The desktops were retained for a few logins and restarts and then even with that Show Desktop As Space box ticked only the first desktop background was retained!! The next step then is to try option two in my previous post but one. This entails choosing Aperture to show in all desktops and then setting each desktop background separately from within Aperture.

I apologise for posting so many entries into this forum. This is very frustrating! Apple please sort this out!

Yet more success! With my setup I have my Aperture library stored on an external hard drive. I believe that during login if the external drive haven't woken up and bootedin sufficient time before everything else wanted to open up then it would choose a desktop background to put on the background. If my hard drive was awake on the other hand, then it would select the photographs that I hadchosen to go on the backgrounds.

The slightly awkward solution therefore is to make sure that the photographs that you wish to go on your desktop backgrounds are stored locally on the Mac's own hard drive rather than on an external one. This is done simply by selecting the photographs that you wish to use in Aperture, choosing File and Export ... Versions and then sending them to a destination on the Mac's own hard drive. It's safest to use the Home/Pictures folder as this is readily available within the Change Desktop Background dialogue box. Again apologies for filling in this forum with messages. However I do believe I've hit upon the solution. And Apple, it's still not very good, is it?