MacBook – Possible to independently use Macbook Pro and external monitor

displaymacbook pro

Guess I'm getting old and set in my ways using Spaces and Expose on my Macbook Pro. I like my hotspots as they are and flip through the four screens with ease (option-arrow). My work recently bought me an external monitor which I'd like to try and incorporate into my daily activities. So, in my ideal world, I'd love to do the following:

Detach the displays in System Preferences -> Displays -> Arrangement so that the only way to move between monitors is by clicking/dragging via Spaces (where all eight screens show). I'd also want the monitor that I'm not working in to be unaffected by my movement through Spaces in the other.

Is this, or something similar, possible? Thanks so much for any help!

Mel

Best Answer

I have not seen this. Two things I have tried that help me, however, are:

Pin windows that you want on the side monitor to all spaces

I've often treated my second monitor as more a static workspace that doesn't change no matter what space I'm in. You can do this by

System Preferences --> Expose and Spaces --> Spaces -->

Click "+" under Application Assignments, and add the applications you want to stay on the second monitor to "Every Space".

Run a virtual machine in the second window

Using VMWare I sometimes run Windows or Lion on the second monitor in full screen. Add that virtual machine to "Every Space" as described above, and then within that machine I can use spaces and have it run independently of the primary workspace.

Neither method gives you exactly what you want, but they provide a few other options you might try that will still give your working style a boost.