Feature Request: Multiple Displays + Taskbar

H

hschneider

Pro
Moved from "Parallels Desktop for Mac Beta"

When using coherence mode with multiple displays, the taskbar is spanned over both screens. It would be nice to decide to have it on the left or on the right screen only.

Thanks,
Harald
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Agreed,

Indeed because my macbook pro and my external screen are not the same size, I end up with the taskbar somewhere about a third of my screen on my external screen.

I have temporarily resolved this by moving my task bar to be completely vertical on the right hand side. But I would prefer to have it on the bottom portion of my external screen only.
 
I want to chime in here and also say that this is a good idea, although it would force them to change the way they do multi-monitor so that the giest knows about both monitors instead of simply streaching one big monior acorss both real screens.
 
You can place Windows Taskbar to any side manually. Do you want it should be automatically?
 
Hi Alexg,

I know I can place it manually.

But in my case I use 2 screens; my MacBookPro at 1440x900 on the left side and a 1280x1024 on the right hand side.When I put my windows XP session in Coherence mode, the Windows task bar is at the bottom of the macbook pro, which is about line 830 to 850. The problem is it is also displayed on line 830 to 850 on my right hand side screen (1280x1024), which means I have a blue windows task bar in the lower 1/2 portion of my external monitor and which mostly stayss on top of all other windows I have displayed on that screen.

The only way I can stay away from that problem is to move the task bar either on the left of the macbook pro screen or on the right of the 1280x1024.

Could it be possible for me to have the windows task bar either stay on the bottom of the mac book pro only or on the bottom of the 1280x1024 but not span both?
 
That exactly describes my problem too. I have 1920x1200 as primary and 1200x1024 as secondary sreen. All I see is the clock on the right hand and nothing on the left, because it spans into the invible part of the screen.

Even thought it would be visible, it is quiet uncomfortable for me to select the start menu on the left side where it is usually hidden by the maximized window of my mail client.

Placing it left or right without spanning would be the better solution. I think many users utilize multiple screens like I do and many users use different sizes .. a large main screen and an inexpensive second screen ..
 
I think we should just be able to choose which screen the start menu will stay on - and only allow windows to move to the external monitor - similar to the OS X menu
 
Geesu said:
I think we should just be able to choose which screen the start menu will stay on - and only allow windows to move to the external monitor - similar to the OS X menu
Click to expand...


:)

I run 1600x1200 on a secondary display, and native res on my macbook pro, so this feature would help me aswell.

This may be better solved by having windows think theres a second display attached, and let window spanning function that way...?
 
dippyskoodlez said:
:)

I run 1600x1200 on a secondary display, and native res on my macbook pro, so this feature would help me aswell.

This may be better solved by having windows think theres a second display attached, and let window spanning function that way...?
Click to expand...

FWIW, I find it best to place the Taskbar on the left side but this still runs into the limitation that differently sized monitors are not "seen" by Parallels in the current implementation. If native Windows support for multiple monitors were present then pinning the Start menu to the left hand edge of Monitor 1 would work exactly as it does in Windows, and that would be perfect for me.

I don't support the idea of truncating the Windows Taskbar -- if it's left along the bottom edge (or pinned to the top edge) then it should display the same behavior as it does in the Windows environment and that would mean spanning the entire Desktop. There is a basic metaphor issue here. If Parallels is attempting to implement the Windows environment then it should have the "look and feel" of Windows -- or else it isn't Windows.
 
Hi,

At the office I have a laptop and an external monitor. The laptop is 1024x768 and the external monitor is 1280x1024.

The taskbar ONLY occupies the laptop display (I can configure it to occupy only either the laptop or the external monitor. I cannot make it span both). This is the windows behavior that I have. This is the windows behavior I would like when in Coherence on my MAC :-).
 
<initially started as a new thread needlessly, reposted here>

Coherence is Wicked Cool (tm). Here's a thought to make it even better: enable more control of how multiple monitors are used. For example:
1) I'd love to be able to see the Windows Task Bar on only one monitor.
2) I'd love to be able to control the characteristics of the monitors independently, so I can have different resolutions. Maybe just get this info from OS X, as it already handles this fine. For example, my MBP is 1440x900, the external monitor hooked on right now is 1280x1024. Coherence looks funny using multiple monitors now.

With 1 and 2 cooking, I could have utility apps on the MBP screen, like Trillian, Finder, etc, and working apps on the external screen, like Visio or Daylite. Now THAT would be COOL! I guess I'm just easily amused ... either that or incapable of figuring out how to configure this in build 4022 ...
 
fbronner said:
Hi,

At the office I have a laptop and an external monitor. The laptop is 1024x768 and the external monitor is 1280x1024.

The taskbar ONLY occupies the laptop display (I can configure it to occupy only either the laptop or the external monitor. I cannot make it span both). This is the windows behavior that I have. This is the windows behavior I would like when in Coherence on my MAC :-).
Click to expand...

Try making the resolutions the same on Monitor 1 and 2 and then switch between Coherence and Full Screen to see if you can see the difference. I haven't yet downloaded the latest beta -- just to busy right now with some development work for the next two weeks or so -- so things may be different so I'd like to know about that.
 
Thanks everybody for suggestions. We will implement automatic TaskBar repositioning to the greatest side in the multiple monitors environment.
 
Neat idea,

I like it. In my case this will be perfect since I keep my OS X Dock on my laptop, and this will enable me to keep my windows task bar on the big screen.
 
I hope alexg understands that this is not just about the placement of the taskbar, it is really about proper multiple monitor support.

Automatic TaskBar repositioning to the greatest side sounds like an okay hack, but it is not really addressing the underlying issue...
 
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