When I create a new desktop it has all the same crud on it that my original desktop has on it.
How do I create a new desktop that's empty, and use that as a new work area… like a new desktop?
The source of my confusion is that they're named "DESKTOPS", and given unique numbers, yet they completely fail to follow the ideas of their own metaphor:
Desktop 1 is exactly the same as Desktop 2, only it's got the possibility of having different app windows in it. That's not a new desktop. It's the same desktop.
Best Answer
@Confused I too had the same issue. I wanted different desktops for different projects. So, I made an Python/Applescript app which allows you to have multiple desktops in the "true sense" that you refer to:
http://www.shirt-ediss.me/clarity/
It should serve your purpose, but please see the "Tips" sections for caveats with my approach. It works simply by moving files and folders from the Desktop to a storage folder, and recording their icon positions. This means that this desktop can be restored to exactly the same state later. There is still only one Desktop/ folder on the Mac, and Mission Control works just as it did before.
I now have about 20 different desktops and switch between them all of the time - great for productivity.