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Mon Jun 16 01:04:19 CEST 2008


I've managed to set this up in tow different ways:
1. Two different X displays with different resolutions and DISPLAY variables :0.0 and :0.1
2. Big screen. Both monitors behaves as one big screen.

The advantage of 1 is that I can separate content very well. Having two different resolutions is no problem. I can run maximised video on one monitor without disturbing the other monitor. One disadvantage is that it seems some types of acceleration doesn't work properly. For example scrolling the window on firefox is dead slow. (This might of course be the result of improper Xorg.conf setup) Another disadvantage is that windows cannot be moved from one screen to the other. And applications that checks if it is already running cannot be started again on the other monitor.

The advantage of 2 is that all acceleration seems to be working on both monitors. And windows can be freely moved from one screen to the other. The disadvantage is it doesn't work too well with monitors with different resolutions (for example monitor + video projector, here setup one is ideal), maximizing a window makes it cover both monitors, the taskbar covers both monitors, virtual screen changes both monitors at the same time and so forth.

So I have a couple of requests/wishes:
For setup 1:
Different kdm processes for both monitors. For example making it possible to have two different users logged in at the same time. Or maybe one monitor with kdm and the other with a different window manager. I think this would be very useful in some situations, like using a video canon.

I can see the problem here with shared config files if the same user logs in twice. But since this is possbile with XDMCP already, this situation should be handled by KDE anyway.

For setup 2:
I'd like to be able to have separate taskbars and separate virtual desktops for the monitors, so that I can change virtual desktop on one monitor withouth the other changing as well. This also would mean shorter distance to the start button. This should of course be configurable, since many people would probably like to have one common taskbar covering two monitors like today. And maximising a window should only maximize it on the current monitor, with an option to further make it cover both monitors.

Then of course there is Xinerama, which I have to admit I haven't really tried yet. This is because I have limited time to experience with this at work (also I have to reboot every time I change Xorg.xonf, since just simply restarting X  causes my machine to lock up), where I have my dual head HD3850 and the option of two monitors. And from what I read Xinerama is just mimicking setup 2 above, but with some added limitations. 

A dual monitor setup is really usefull, so I hope you hardworking KDE guys will take the time to make this as flexible as possible.


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