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Comment by amelius | Hacker News Reader

> If your work is done on a computer, get a second monitor. Less time navigating between windows means more time for thinking.

I don't agree. Use a virtual desktop instead and switch workspaces with a keyboard shortcut.

I'm currently using 9 workspaces, and monitors couldn't ever beat that UX.

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I'll disagree with you - the value of 2 or more monitors comes when you want to simply have more stuff on screen at the same time so you can compare / check / whatever.

I.e. you can have a spreadsheet on one monitor, and the results of a bunch of terminal windows on another, and be typing out an email about those two things on another.

You can continue to type the email while reading the spreadsheet and checking the terminal results without having to "switch", or take the draft email off the screen to check that other thing.

I really notice this falls down when I have multiple tabs open in my browser and I want to be mentally dealing with info from one, and inputting it into another. Switch tabs means the one you're entering data into goes away. (Of course, the solution is to have the tabs in different windows, on different monitors, though this example always makes me realize the HUGE time saver of having so much information in view at the same time.)

A simple solution to that is simply copy the stuff you want to process into your clipboard, and pasting it into the document you want to edit, and then edit out all the stuff you don't need or want to change.

I'm personally not in that kind of situation very often. And switching workspaces is faster for me than turning my head to another screen.

An added benefit is that my window manager always knows what workspace I'm looking at. With multiple monitors, your computer doesn't know that, and so keyboard focus becomes a problem, e.g. finding what is currently "in focus" takes more time, finding where your mouse cursor is, etc.

Finally, my setup is the same everywhere I go (at home, at work, on a laptop, etc.) since I only use one physical monitor. I think this is a huge advantage too.

Even if they're not in the same context, it can be easier to switch between contexts by just moving your head, instead of having to press a keyboard shortcut or a button. I use a tiling WM and usually have two contexts side-by-side (half of my 4k 27" display is usually enough for one window to work in) and when I want to switch to something else I can instinctively move to the other one without having to think about it. On the flipside, the lack of friction also means you can get distracted pretty easily, so YMMV.

I agree with the point about being able to compare two windows, but I feel like the second monitor adds much less value now that affordable 32" 4K monitors are a thing. Now the more useful investment is simply learning your OS's window management hotkeys to immediately snap your window to either the left side or right side of the screen.

It's much easier to comprehend the data from multiple windows if I can see both at the same time. Instead of switching back and forth just have them both open. Virtual desktop work very well too, but they're still improved with multiple monitors.

Depends on what you do. My setup is simple and I don't see how it could be improved with an external display - I've tried a couple of times but have always reverted to a single (laptop) display. Instead of switching between desktops I'd have to be moving my head.

Desktop 1: Browser & chat apps (alt+tab switching)

Desktop 2: Code editor

Desktop 3: Terminal (tiled and tabbed)

Desktop 4: Rarely used

There are certainly use cases where multiple screens have their advantage and I've also every now and then drooled over a 4k monitor, but then I'd lose the portability a laptop gives me (and/or suffer when constrained to it).

It really depends on what kind of work you're doing. You can get pretty far by just using a tiling window manager, though.

Information is independent in windows currently opened on my computer, seeing them simultaneously will only distract me with currently irrelevant information. Seeing the second monitor is another big if, I once had two monitors, but the second was too far away I didn't see anything on it and didn't bother to look.

I used to use multiple monitors, but now I’m using a Mac with a single large screen, and I use the Divvy app to easily split open application windows evenly across a single desktop. https://mizage.com/divvy/

Have you tried both?

I do love me some virtual desktops with a bonus non-switching physical one to the side

Shifting your eyeballs to another monitor will always be more efficient than the key combinations to toggle back and forth between workspaces.

How do you figure that?

Shifting my head and eyeballs back and forth is way slower, for me, than an instantaneous Super+1, Super+2, etc. or Super+Tab (for switching to the last used workspace) to see a "second" monitor.

Same. I tried that too and I don't see the efficiency.

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