| They're not all for the same purpose. There are some things that don't need to be actively looked at most of the time, but need to be visible so that you know when something happens that you do need to pay attention. You could do it by polling—put it on a virtual desktop and switch to it every so often—but that adds latency and can be even more distracting than having it visible in the corner of your eye. Think of things like Element or Slack or a dashboard that tracks bugs/issues/alerts. Then there are reference displays that you look at on demand. Most of the time switching virtual desktops is good enough for this, but not if you're following along with a sequence while actively working. Then there are things that are just big. Perhaps you're displaying an autogenerated graph, or you're using an information-dense tool (maybe with multiple relevant layers). Not to mention wanting to consult things while on a video call, which constrains the screen to use based on camera positioning. I very actively use virtual desktops, yet I have two external monitors in addition to my laptop screen. Most of the time, I really only make use of one of the external monitors, but situations arise that require both. They arise frequently enough that I notice the lack (eg when I'm fighting with my configuration and only one is working, or I've loaned one monitor to someone else). And when I'm mobile and down to just the laptop screen, I definitely notice and even adjust what I'm working on to avoid losing productivity. |