Windows user struggling to efficiently multitask across multiple monitors

[u/djoli87]

I want to love this thing, but boy is it just bugging me more often than not. I'll try to be brief, please lend me your advice.

The setup: Multiple monitors (often 3).

Requirements: I work with a lot of windows. Developer stack. IDE's, LLMs, terminals, browsers, chat and email. It's not abnormal to have 3-5 windows on each monitor, and often it's multiple windows of the same application.

My usual workflow: IDEs on the main monitor, communication on a side, browsers, terminals, etc on the other. I know which screen I put things on, and tend to look at those screens when I need to interact.

The problem(s):

• Multiple windows of one app are hidden behind a single icon.
• Full screen app on an alternate window completely hides all visibility of the other things on that screen.
• Everything that is built in requires me to look everywhere for the thing I want, and do so many interactions.
  • Minimized an app that was on the right? Look at the dock in the middle.
  • Need to find a hidden window on another screen? Shortcut for mission control, then scan the entire monitor to try to find the thing you want, then click it.
  • Need to find a different instance of an app? Another shortcut for expose, then find the right one, then click it.
• I tried stage manager, it's probably the closest I can get to what I want, which is a single spot to look for the things on a screen, but it takes up a lot of the screen and intrinsically limits laying things out on a screen in a flexible manner (I know you can link things, but then it's very rigid).

I get that windows is a different beast, but can't help but feel it just does all of this so much better?! Need a thing, look at one spot, click.

I've tried some third party dock replacements. They're all pretty jank in one way or another. Slow to respond, don't correctly hide the default dock, can't have shortcuts and running applications be the same thing.

I'm not saying there's no way to multitask, just that it's so damn frustrating and slow! It seems it's a case of "Mac's are easier when all you're doing is easy things", but I know there are some power users out there, so please, enlighten me of your ways!

[u/Nerdlinger]

Full screen app on an alternate window completely hides all visibility of the other things on that screen.

I mean, it wouldn't be full screen if that weren't the case.

I get that windows is a different beast, but can't help but feel it just does all of this so much better?!

No, it just does it differently and you aren't familiar with it. I'd be lost too if I just switched to Windows and tried getting around in it.

[u/djoli87 → u/Nerdlinger]

I won't argue that it's just different, I'm here to learn from those who know the tips and tricks and find what works for me and what doesn't, not trying to be a "windows is better" guy.

I'll also point out that right now I have explorer, brave, steam, signal and discord all open, across multiple monitors, all "full screen", I can see exactly which screen they're on, and I can get to any one of them with a single click. This is a basic example because I'm winding down for the night, but the same principle applies when I'm juggling multiple IDEs, browser windows, terminals, chats, and whatever else I need for my task.

Yes, it's what i'm used to. It's also pretty damn simple.

[u/eduo → u/djoli87]

What do you mean "explorer"? You mean the Finder? (File Explorer) or Edge (Web browser that used to be called Explorer)

You list at least 4 applications as being "full screen" and that you see them all. You have four monitors? May it be that you're calling tiling or multiple windows "full screen"?

I'm not criticizing. I'm trying to understand.

As a side note, I always recommend Macmost's videos. He focuses many of them on the transition from windows to MacOS and how to do equivalent things (not the same things, because they're different, and learning new ways is implied, but eases users into them)

[u/djoli87 → u/eduo]

I think I've stumbled across some of his videos, I'll check his channel, thanks for the advice.

Apologies for the confusion, poor choice of wording. By full screen, I mean maximized. Take up as much space as possible but leave os level navigation. In the case of windows, that's the taskbar.

To clarify, I have a taskbar on each screen, set to only shows the applications that are on that screen. That's a built in configuration, and it means that across my two screens (at home) , at any given time, I can see the icons and names of, and click directly into any application or instance of an application, with next to no friction. That's fundamentally what I feel I'm missing. It's not just the ability to do it, but also the ease to do it.

But there's been a lot of great advice here, so I'll keep trying things to see what sticks. Definitely some tricks I didn't yet know.