Review: Ultramon

UltraMon is an application that stretches the Windows taskbar across multiple monitors and provides buttons for moving applications between monitors. Essentially it does the same as Oscar's MultiMon (see my earlier review of this) plus it adds support for handling multiple wallpapers. I recommend it. I have found no annoying bugs like in Oscars's, so the choice is clear, except there is one drawback: The price - UltraMon costs money after a 30-day trial, whereas Oscar's is free. I really hope Windows Vista will have the features built in, so we won't have to rely on third-party software.

Could a 30-in. monitor help you do your job faster?

A study shows that some very specific operations - like moving files between windows - are more efficient on a big 30-inch screen compared to a smaller screen. The findings don't seem that interesting, the most interesting thing in the article is that several experts criticize the study and then start talking about multiple monitors.

Bill Gates uses three monitors

In CNN Money Bill Gates talks about how he works, and the very first thing he mentions is that he has three monitors:

On my desk I have three screens, synchronized to form a single desktop. I can drag items from one screen to the next. Once you have that large display area, you'll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity.

Wikipedia on multiple monitors

Wikipedia has an article on multiple monitors. It is mostly technical, doesn't say so much about why and how people use multiple monitors.

Review: Oscar's Multi-Monitor taskBar

Windows only shows the taskbar on your primary monitor. When an application on the taskbar is restored, it will show up on the monitor where it was last shown. Oscar's Multi-Monitor taskBar V2.1 is a freeware utility that extends the taskbar onto a second and third monitor. This makes it more intuitive to work with multiple monitors: You can see immediately, before switching to an application, where it will open, and you can see in a glance how your applications are distributed across your monitors. It sounds like a small thing, but to me it made a big difference. The utility also includes another smaller functionality: It adds buttons in the upper right corner of windows, for moving them between the monitors with one click (without this feature you need to restore from a maximized state, drag and then maximize again to achieve the same thing). I don't move my windows around a whole lot, so this is not a big deal to me, but it works fine. The taskbar also includes a "Clipboard Extender" which gives some clipboard functionality. I haven't used this, and it has not really anything to do with your multiple monitors, so in my opinion it shouldn't have been included, but it can be disabled easily. There are several annoyances with Oscar's Multi-Monitor taskBar: The clock is redundantly shown on both taskbars (and probably all three, if you have three); also, it is not shown according to the regional settings, so for many people the format of the two clocks will be different) and the move button sometimes shows up above other buttons. Despite this, I'm keeping it on my system. The annoyances are not that important, and the utility is useful and seems stable. I the long run I hope Windows Vista will add support for extending the toolbar, so we won't depend on third-party software for this. Verdict: Useful, free, a few annoyances

Multiple monitors in one

The multiple monitor revolution is rolling! Some companies have started manufacturing double-screen monitors, some even triple- or more. They work like separate monitors but looks better. One company is Digital Tigers, which have their Zenview monitors with two or three or up to eight screens in one unit that is curved in the right ergonomic way so that each screen is in the same distance from the user.

Wallpapers for two monitors

Windows cannot in itself show two different wallpapers on two monitors, but it will span the wallpaper over two or more monitors if the wallpaper is wide enough. If you have e.g. two monitors at 1280*1024, you need a wallpaper with the dimensions 2560*1024 - or at least something close (assuming your monitors are next to each other, of course) I found very beautiful wallpapers with this width at interfacelift.com. Other sites with wallpapers for dual or triple monitors is dualscreenwallpaper.com, 9x media and XXL Wallpapers and more.

First impressions

I don't believe I have had actual productivity gains so far, but I definitely like the new way to structure my windows. So far I've worked most of the time with Internet Explorer in the monitor to the right, and every other application in the main monitor in front of me. I especially like

• That I can click a link in Outlook (i use Outlook with IntraVNews for feeds) and have it open in a maximized Internet Explorer, while still having Outlook open and maximized
• To move one or two floating windows in Visual Studio to the left monitor (Visual Studio, for those of you who don't know it is a development tool which can be a little overwhelming in too small a screen)

How to get started with dual monitors

You need this to get started with a dual-monitor system:

1. An operating system that supports multiple monitors, like Windows (all the way back to Windows 98)
2. Two monitors
3. Either a) two graphics cards or b) a graphics card that supports outputs to two monitors

This article in PC Mechanic does a good job of explaining how to set it up.

A blog on multiple monitors

Two days ago I switched from a single monitor to having dual monitors. Some people claim that dual monitors enhances efficiency. I don't know about that yet, but I know it gives you more screen space for less money than a bigger screen and it gives you a new way to structure your open windows. I intend two use this blog to follow up on this promise, to chronicle any difficulties with a multiple monitor system, and to keep track of opportunities to get the most out of my monitors. I use Windows Server 2003 (which is more or less like Windows XP), so I will concentrate on Windows, but some posts will be relevant for everybody interested in using multiple monitors. Does anybody ever read the first post on a blog that didn't exist until a few minutes ago?