intelligent virtual desktop (IVD)

I use virtual desktops (VD) a lot and I've done so for over 15 years now. I use the VD with keyboard shortcuts and with the mouse roller. I also often “send” windows to another desktop. VD1 = development, VD2 = music, VD3 = surfing, VD3 = install + system work (till I started using Yakuake a lot) etc ..

I remember using a VD in Windows where the applications opened directly in the right VD. We also have sticky windows but those stick everywhere! Lately I've found myself wanting more intelligence from the system and I believe I have some ideas that could make VD and KDE4 more usable. As I am a developer, I enjoy being able to tweak and control my environment programmatically. “Simpler” users can be presented with a simple UI or can ignore the feature altogether.

In the screenshot you can see my first requirement for an IVD. Each letter corresponds to a program, a figure is added if another instance of the same program is running. Program A (say konqueror), has two instances (A, A2) but it is present 3 IVD for a total of 4 windows.

A is present in desktop 1 and in desktop 3 are the same instance but they have a different size and position. The same goes for A2 (in Desktop 2 and 3) and for C (in Desktop 1 and 4). Note that the applications are not sticky in all the desktops but only those where I want them to stick.

A good example of a program I want to have different positions is an irc client. When I'm chatting I want it to take much of my screen but I sometimes want to concentrate an have just a little not too disturbing window.

Below is a little wish list for an IVD, I would like to hear you opinion and, even more, what you would like to see in an IVD.

- position newly opened applications in the right VD or ask me if it should open it in the default location.
- sticky window per desktop not all the desktops
- set position and size as well as other attributes, for example remove the title bar of a window or, to be more generic, send a dcop command to the window allowing me to, not only, control the window but also the application in that specific DT.
- Remember the attributes of a window when I change VD, so I can resize a window and have it keep that size for the session or save it as default
- start application automatically when I access a specific VD
- possibility to have icons per VD (that would remove some clutter here :)
- lock applications in a desktop so they can't be moved nor duplicated
- allow me to duplicate any window I have open to any VD.
- the IVD should be accessible programatically so I can ask it on which VD and app is visible or duplicated (preferably dcop or such)
- have a script run every time the desktop is changed
- have a Kmenu per VD or at least have a specific sub menu
- possibility to merge all the VD, including icons
- incur no change to applications

This might sound complicated for the lambda user, but I'm not one of those and neither are you, since you are reading this, and neither are most of the users I know.

This could also be the first step towards the, long forgotten, “perfect” IDE which was not supposed to be one of the do-it-all IDE we have (eclipse or other bloatware) but where the desktop would be the IDE.