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I just switched from two 19" monitors running 1280 X 1024 to two 22" monitors running 1680 X 1050. If I run typical apps full screen now, they tend to have a lot of unused white space.

Examples:

I'm typing into Firefox right now, and even with the sidebar open (which contains all my bookmarks), this superuser page still has 2.5" left and right margins. That's a lot of pixels I could be using for something else.

I recently opened a Microsoft Word document, and even with the gray track changes column showing to the right of the document, I still had two 3"-wide bands of used space on either side.

I tried changing the Reading Pane in Outlook from "bottom" to "right", but there's really not quite enough width to show the folder list, the email list, and the contents of the selected email without scrunching things a little too much, so I ended up preferring the reading pane on the bottom.

Some applications seem more useful right away, like PowerPoint (where you can make the Slides/Outline pane wider) and Excel (where you can see a lot more columns), but in several cases, I'm not realizing any benefit of the wider screen.

Questions

Now that you have a widescreen, what do you use your extra width for?

Do you have any tips for the applications I mentioned or other commonly used applications?

devuxer
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7 Answers7

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You're thinking wrong.

You're thinking "How can I modify existing software to better use a widescreen monitor", when really you should be thinking How can I now use my computer more efficiently. Stop maximizing. Maximizing stopped being useful about 5 years ago*, we have screen resolutions in the 1000s of pixels both ways now, and enough hardware to run countless programs at the same time.

Start using multiple applications at the same time! Wheras before you might have a document on the secondary screen to refer to while you work on the primary, have both on one, and then use the secondary for either even more reference material, or something completely different (I keep IRC channels always-open, cover them up with the docs to whatever language I'm using at the moment, so I can look up functions and arcane chants very quickly).

On windows 7, use Aero Snap, on Vista and below use software such as GridMove or a suitable Autohotkey script (It's really not my area, but AHK serves my needs brilliantly)

Buy a 5 button mouse, you're spending lots on your output, so you should beef up your input. Autohotkey, or software such as Logitech's SetPoint, can empower additional buttons, or combinations, to help you with your workflow.

Perhaps try sidebar software, such as Desktop Sidebar, Google Desktop, or Vista/7's built in sidebar. Join Twitter, and keep a client always-open to keep track of news and current events. Basically, a widescreen monitor, in the right hands, is a wonderful thing.

2 is computing paradise.

*at least, programs stopped being easier to use maximised. It's still great for those times you just need a little extra space.

Phoshi
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Movies! And Aero Snap from time to time.

sYnfo
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Does either monitor have any fun ports apart from VGA/DVI, such as RCA or coax? If so, you can use the secondary monitor as a periodic TV-watching or SNES-ing output or the like.

As for using window space effectively, I can't bear to have more than 2 things open on my screen at once, so I tend to use Aero Snap (Win-Left and Win-Right) often, but not much more. Then again, it's only a 19-inch 1366*738 (or something similar), so that might have something to do with it.

Christian Mann
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Is multitasking too easy an answer? Sometimes because of data that I'm taking from one program to another I like the ability to see what I am doing and what I want to do. I also have files that I'm copying that may take an exceptionally long time set so that they are still on my screen instead of minimized and I can watch when they wrap up.

I guess more than anything, I use a widerscreen to clutter things up and have more in front of me at the same time. It saves me from having to ALT+Tab all of the time.

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I'm slightly amused. I've also got two wide-screen monitors and find myself wishing for more space. I guess I just fill up all that space with lots of applications that I use for my work. I suppose if all your doing is browsing the web, not many sites are catering to widescreen yet.

Michael Prescott
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You could run a side bar, or place the taskbar on the side.

Wide screen is very good for watching movies on VLC or Youtube, and even though I have one 1680*1050 moniter I still find myself running out of space.

I tend to put all MSN / xFire convos to one side and browse the internet on the other side.

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I have a similar setup, I generally have a lot of open windows. I can't imagine life with out the alt+mouseLeft window move and alt+mouseright window resize. There is a windows port of this capability called WinMover.

Lokal
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