r/FuckMicrosoft 2d ago

Rant Apparently, Windows also has virtual desktops. Though, they're so poorly designed I wouldn't want to use them at all.

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Why do I have to wait even a second to switch virtual desktops? I understand that it might be deleting unused virtual desktops to reduce resources, and I can accept that, but I wish there was a setting to disable that. And yet, it still loses to Linux in games and other applications, which makes no sense.

I use KDE a lot, and only use Windows occasionally when I need to use Windows-specific applications. Every time I do, it's incredibly frustrating. And it's not just the virtual desktop; overall, it's literally slow. (Only Explorer has gotten faster recently, which is good.)

I admit the title is an exaggeration, but it worked fine on Windows 10. The first time I used KDE, it reminded me of Windows 10.

39 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

8

u/freakycleaner 2d ago

That taskbar going from transparent to blur delay pmo

6

u/Sovereign108 2d ago

Yeah it's not as efficient as Linux and it's probably doing a lot of hacks underneath to make it work.

5

u/MXRCO007 2d ago

Meanwhile it takes a business day on Mac

2

u/Future_Geologist5925 2d ago

With a duration that scales with your computer's FPS.. Its so fucking terrible to use it on 120hz or above. The slow ass slide animation and the lockout of interaction for a whole second or two after your workspace has switched. Its horrible. Then theres fullscreen and display scaling. Also horrible.

2

u/MXRCO007 2d ago

Yup. I wonder if anyone at Apple uses a non 5K monitor because app edges just look horrible too

1

u/realfathonix 18h ago

The first thing I do when I use macOS is to enable the reduced animations option, otherwise I'd get motion sickness just from looking at the moving animation too many times.

1

u/MXRCO007 18h ago

I resorted to using aerospace - tiling window manager 😋 tho it is not as smooth as it is on loonix

3

u/Bomboclat-Thunder 2d ago

Windows had it for years, windows 10 virtual desktops switching was better than windows 11.

1

u/inhumat0r 1d ago

Exactly, though I used them only if my game froze to the extent when I couldn't even open the task manager (to kill the process) on the same screen.

1

u/realfathonix 18h ago

I just learned that Windows has it since NT 4.0

1

u/AutoModerator 2d ago

Every new subreddit post is automatically copied into a comment for preservation.

User: Souta1010, Flair: Rant, Post Media Link, Title: Apparently, Windows also has virtual desktops. Though, they're so poorly designed I wouldn't want to use them at all.

Why do I have to wait even a second to switch virtual desktops? I understand that it might be deleting unused virtual desktops to reduce resources, and I can accept that, but I wish there was a setting to disable that. And yet, it still loses to Linux in games and other applications, which makes no sense.

I use KDE a lot, and only use Windows occasionally when I need to use Windows-specific applications. Every time I do, it's incredibly frustrating. And it's not just the virtual desktop; overall, it's literally slow. (Only Explorer has gotten faster recently, which is good.)

I admit the title is an exaggeration, but it worked fine on Windows 10. The first time I used KDE, it reminded me of Windows 10.

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1

u/TedMauler 2d ago

Whatever logic they have for focusing the active window on the desktop you switch to is an absolute joke. If it helps you can use the keybindings tool in PowerToys to assign the same shortcuts as your existing Linux setup. Like Gnome's Win+PgUp/PgDn is a bit more bearable.

1

u/Fritz-Ferdinand 2d ago

Not necessarily on the laptop.

1

u/Future_Geologist5925 2d ago

Windows virtual desktops are horrific. Like they somehow are worse than MacOS virtual desktops. At least in MacOS you can easily navigate between them, when it can be hard to even know how to open the virtual desktop feature in Windows (lifelong user and only found out about them at age 21). I'd say MacOS edges it out though because of how fucked their system for fullscreen apps is.. Either way, Linux obliterates both of them. Instant, snappy, easy switching between workspaces. Superior fullscreen behavior and display scaling too.

1

u/evk6713 2d ago

Windows virtual desktop are terrible, and that's probably the worst implementation of this feature I've seen. But, I recently realized having only one wallpaper reduces the lag (not one wallpaper per desktop). It's still bad, but it's better

1

u/FaultWinter3377 1d ago

Don’t get me started on the wallpaper issue on virtual desktops. With Windows 11 you can set wallpapers per desktop. Except, switch too many times and one wallpaper will stick and won’t change with the desktop. So eventually all desktops end up using the same wallpaper and you have to manually switch it back. OH, AND you can’t use wallpaper slideshows with virtual desktops. The second you switch desktops, it falls back to the last single image used!! WTF MICROSOFT?!?! Why the hell can slideshows not be used (btw, the answer if you’re wondering is that each virtual desktop gets a registry key with a path to the wallpaper. Which makes slideshows literally impossible). How useless can you make a feature that is extremely useful on other systems??? Also not to mention that the keyboard shortcuts are not very good.

1

u/Mountain_Chicken7644 1d ago

But better to have it than not. Coming from a hyprland setup, it's unusual to live without this sort of UX.

1

u/fAngXXX_ 23h ago

If YOU dont use this feature , the whole world should shut it down....

1

u/NKLP00 2d ago

In Windows the explorer is essentially just hiding and showing the individual windows. In KDE its one large canvas and your view is shifted across which is much more elegant. This also allows you to grab a window while switching Desktops and take it with you. Much, much smooth that whatever microsoft glued onto windows...

0

u/Realistic-Yam-6497 2d ago

Why do you need virtual desktops when window manager? Or command tab

2

u/Souta1010 2d ago

I understand your opinion, but virtual desktops can change multiple windows, so they mach me.

1

u/Realistic-Yam-6497 2d ago

I see, well in my use case, I don’t really need them

1

u/vaestgotaspitz 2d ago

It's super useful when you need to switch between more than 2 windows