Window manager ?

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Hello,
I am using dual screen, and Mac OS X has proven to be a really painfull experience up to now.

I explain myself. I have two possible setups :
1- I use my laptop only.
2- I use my laptop connected to an external 24in monitor.

Everyday, when I connect the external monitor, I need to dispatch applications that are opened myself : I move Thunderbird and Sunbird to the laptop screen, I move Firefox to the external screen, iTerm to the external screen, maximize the windows, etc... When I disconnect the external monitor, I need to do the opposite... move all the windows one by one to fit the laptop screen.

Moreover, every morning, I need to reconfigure the external screen position because, by default, Snow Leopard puts it in a "side-by-side" configuration, while I want to use it in a "top-bottom" configuration (external monitor on top of the laptop).

I am getting quite annoyed by all of this. Is there any way to have the OS remember the **** configuration ? I would also be satisfied by a third-party program that would do that. This is SO unhelpfull the way it is handled right now...
 
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Normally, the system will recognize the external display and restore the last configuration.

Things tend to get confused if you use a chain of adaptors. How are you connecting the display?
 
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I am connecting the external monitor through a Mini DisplayPort -> DisplayPort cable. (external monitor has a DisplayPort input).

The OS seems to remember the screen position (one on top of the other) if I don't unplug it for too long. But 24 hour seems to be too long and it resets the configuration.

In anyway, it does not remember the position of the windows on the two monitors.
 
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S'funny, because when I started doing dual monitors initially it was using Tiger, and I used a vertical arraignment like yours, and every day would disconnect the external to take the Macbook to work. All the windows would jump down to the internal, and with a big of quick Exposé jockeying, they all sized correctly for the smaller monitor. At the end of the day I'd plug in the external, and windows that were on the external would jump back to where they were and life was good. The verticality was preserved as well.

When I moved to Leopard, that remembering bit seemed to be broke. Windows would jump down like before, but when I reconnected the terminal they would stay on the internal and I had to move them back up to the external. Annoying, but oh well.

Now with Snow Leopard, that original remembering has come back, eliminating a step from my home-from-work ritual when transitioning from mobile notebook to plugged-in desktop mode.

I've since moved to a new city and haven't yet plugged in the external since my home office isn't set up yet. It'll be interesting to see if my MBP remembers what monitor setting I had because it's been not connected to any external for more than a month. There's a good reason alone to accelerate the clearing out of boxes and setting up a desk to see what will happen.
 

chscag

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Just setup the external to "mirror" (if that will suffice for your work) and then you'll never have to worry about moving apps. That's what I do and never have a problem.

Regards.
 
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If I wanted a "mirror", I would use a mirror. I don't understand who wants to use "mirror" setting for an external monitor.

Moreover, "mirror" setting display really ugly on the external monitor, because everything is downscaled to the lower resolution of the laptop screen.
 

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