W
windows.lovers
Virtual desktops for windows
I have run into many people who have this problem. They have old
hardwares which they are satisfied with, such as the PCI cards,
monitors etc. They are upgrading the motherboards/CPU/RAM, but keeping
the rest of the old stuff since it works. They are also upgrading the
OS. Here is one case:
The old NT4.0 was mainly used for CAD programs or general use. It
served well. It has a nice virtual desktop using a matrox millenium
card with 4Meg of RAM, top of the line at that time. It also works
great under linux with the same virtual desktop that supports panning.
This way an economical monitor can provide the performance of a high
end large screen monitor.
There are many reasons for the upgrade of OS such as security, speed,
support for new applications and so on.
We have a number of PC's that use the Matrox Millenium cards with the
MGA-2164W chipset and screen resolution upto 1200x1600. These are
excellent hardwares.
People from Western Europe, Russia and the Eastern Europe cant be
endlessly paying tax to Uncle Sam and Uncle Maple.
The question is this: Is there a way to get these hardwares working in
the newer OS's just as they worked on NT4.0 ? Specifically, the market
has a lot of older cards floating around, and people are still using
these cards.
We know that Linux can make use of ANY of these video cards and make
them work to the best performance under X windows.
Here is a list of approaches for windows :
(1) Take the NT driver and modify it to work with XP. It should be
possible to disassemble the driver, and apply the changes. Ironically,
the latest driver for the legacy product like this at
http://matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/support/drivers/latest/home.php,
ie w2k_582.exe from
ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/archive/win_2k/2002/w2k_582.exe
and the unistaller pd_unin201.exe from
ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/utils/pd_unin201.exe
does not work very well.
(2) Use a non-microsoft desktop manager which can make these cards
work, such as Yod'm 3D which works with Vista, Windows 2000 or XP.
However, we are not asking for its sophisticated 3D capability, only a
2D feature for panning.
(3) We know that the LCD's allow panning under windows XP for some
reason, but not everyone wants to change every single of their older
monitors to LCD. One would ideally want to use the Monitors till their
natural death. This is the most ideal, most environmentally friendly
approach. There is no reason to waste
your money of the labor of those who manufactured these hardwares.
Is there a way to fool the windows XP or the matrox driver that the
monitor is an LCD ? Is it an issue of maximum magnification ? How does
the feedback from the mouse pointer crossing the edge give the info to
the OS for an LCD to pan ? Perhaps, this may be the best solution to
allow that specific setting manually to fool the OS or the video card
that an LCD is connected.
(4) There are a number of virtual desktop managers and shells
(different from the virtual desktops provided by the driver software)
which may be able to provide a virtual desktop.
BEGIN QUOTE
Microsoft Windows does not implement virtual desktops at installation
time. Microsoft provides a virtual desktop PowerToy (for Windows XP),
a software-based virtual desktop manager, which simulates many
desktops, by minimizing and maximizing windows in groups, each group
being a different desktop. However, the functionality provided is less
comprehensive than that of many other virtual desktop solutions (e.g.
missing functionality to move windows to another desktop, maintain a
window in a given desktop even when its application bar button
flashes, etc...). Application compatibility problems are common,
because application developers do not expect virtual desktops to be in
use on the Windows platform.
Many desktop shell replacements for Windows, including LiteStep,
bblean, GeoShell, SharpE and many others, support virtual desktops via
optional modules.
END QUOTE
Note, that the microsoft powertoy does not have virtual desktop with
pan feature. That is the most important feature. More details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_shell_replacement
BEGIN QUOTE
In Windows 95 and later versions of Microsoft Windows, the Windows
shell is by default explorer.exe (in the Windows folder or one of its
subfolders, System32) which displays the icons on the desktop, the
taskbar, the Start menu and the file browser. By default, explorer.exe
runs automatically when Windows starts. Mostly the shell simply
launches other programs on request.
Computer users with the desire can modify explorer.exe extensively. It
is also possible to completely replace explorer.exe with another
shell. Such a desktop shell replacement provides an alternative to the
standard Windows shell. Alternatives such as those below can replace
visual elements and windowing layout on a Microsoft Windows-based
system, provide more options for customization, or use fewer
resources.
END QUOTE
The only problem in the way is the greed of the hardware and software
manufacturers in an unstated conspiracy against the end-users. These
manufacturers insist on controlling our life and forcing us to waste
our money. People should upgrade based on their own desire and
calculation, and not under compulsion from the manufacturers. The
biggest hypocrisy is when these Canadians and Al Gores cry hoarse over
the GLOBAL WARMING. Each monitor thrown away, each video card thrown
away just because a driver was not available or software was not
supporting its basic feature is contribution to global warming. The
processes to make these cards were not only energy intensive but
highly polluting.
I have run into many people who have this problem. They have old
hardwares which they are satisfied with, such as the PCI cards,
monitors etc. They are upgrading the motherboards/CPU/RAM, but keeping
the rest of the old stuff since it works. They are also upgrading the
OS. Here is one case:
The old NT4.0 was mainly used for CAD programs or general use. It
served well. It has a nice virtual desktop using a matrox millenium
card with 4Meg of RAM, top of the line at that time. It also works
great under linux with the same virtual desktop that supports panning.
This way an economical monitor can provide the performance of a high
end large screen monitor.
There are many reasons for the upgrade of OS such as security, speed,
support for new applications and so on.
We have a number of PC's that use the Matrox Millenium cards with the
MGA-2164W chipset and screen resolution upto 1200x1600. These are
excellent hardwares.
People from Western Europe, Russia and the Eastern Europe cant be
endlessly paying tax to Uncle Sam and Uncle Maple.
The question is this: Is there a way to get these hardwares working in
the newer OS's just as they worked on NT4.0 ? Specifically, the market
has a lot of older cards floating around, and people are still using
these cards.
We know that Linux can make use of ANY of these video cards and make
them work to the best performance under X windows.
Here is a list of approaches for windows :
(1) Take the NT driver and modify it to work with XP. It should be
possible to disassemble the driver, and apply the changes. Ironically,
the latest driver for the legacy product like this at
http://matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/support/drivers/latest/home.php,
ie w2k_582.exe from
ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/archive/win_2k/2002/w2k_582.exe
and the unistaller pd_unin201.exe from
ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/utils/pd_unin201.exe
does not work very well.
(2) Use a non-microsoft desktop manager which can make these cards
work, such as Yod'm 3D which works with Vista, Windows 2000 or XP.
However, we are not asking for its sophisticated 3D capability, only a
2D feature for panning.
(3) We know that the LCD's allow panning under windows XP for some
reason, but not everyone wants to change every single of their older
monitors to LCD. One would ideally want to use the Monitors till their
natural death. This is the most ideal, most environmentally friendly
approach. There is no reason to waste
your money of the labor of those who manufactured these hardwares.
Is there a way to fool the windows XP or the matrox driver that the
monitor is an LCD ? Is it an issue of maximum magnification ? How does
the feedback from the mouse pointer crossing the edge give the info to
the OS for an LCD to pan ? Perhaps, this may be the best solution to
allow that specific setting manually to fool the OS or the video card
that an LCD is connected.
(4) There are a number of virtual desktop managers and shells
(different from the virtual desktops provided by the driver software)
which may be able to provide a virtual desktop.
BEGIN QUOTE
Microsoft Windows does not implement virtual desktops at installation
time. Microsoft provides a virtual desktop PowerToy (for Windows XP),
a software-based virtual desktop manager, which simulates many
desktops, by minimizing and maximizing windows in groups, each group
being a different desktop. However, the functionality provided is less
comprehensive than that of many other virtual desktop solutions (e.g.
missing functionality to move windows to another desktop, maintain a
window in a given desktop even when its application bar button
flashes, etc...). Application compatibility problems are common,
because application developers do not expect virtual desktops to be in
use on the Windows platform.
Many desktop shell replacements for Windows, including LiteStep,
bblean, GeoShell, SharpE and many others, support virtual desktops via
optional modules.
END QUOTE
Note, that the microsoft powertoy does not have virtual desktop with
pan feature. That is the most important feature. More details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_shell_replacement
BEGIN QUOTE
In Windows 95 and later versions of Microsoft Windows, the Windows
shell is by default explorer.exe (in the Windows folder or one of its
subfolders, System32) which displays the icons on the desktop, the
taskbar, the Start menu and the file browser. By default, explorer.exe
runs automatically when Windows starts. Mostly the shell simply
launches other programs on request.
Computer users with the desire can modify explorer.exe extensively. It
is also possible to completely replace explorer.exe with another
shell. Such a desktop shell replacement provides an alternative to the
standard Windows shell. Alternatives such as those below can replace
visual elements and windowing layout on a Microsoft Windows-based
system, provide more options for customization, or use fewer
resources.
END QUOTE
The only problem in the way is the greed of the hardware and software
manufacturers in an unstated conspiracy against the end-users. These
manufacturers insist on controlling our life and forcing us to waste
our money. People should upgrade based on their own desire and
calculation, and not under compulsion from the manufacturers. The
biggest hypocrisy is when these Canadians and Al Gores cry hoarse over
the GLOBAL WARMING. Each monitor thrown away, each video card thrown
away just because a driver was not available or software was not
supporting its basic feature is contribution to global warming. The
processes to make these cards were not only energy intensive but
highly polluting.