Way back in 1996, I bought a refurb 21" monitor for around $900.  I was looking at it all day, so I figured I'd save my eyes.  Around 2000, I found a better 21" monitor for $350 and bought it.  They both still work.  All of this to explain that I have had 1600x1200 resolution for a long time. 

Recently, in order to save desk space, I switched to dual 17" LCD's running @ 1280x1024 each.  I must say it has sucked every minute.  Although I should have more real estate available, I can't seem to use it effectivly.  I'm not sure if it's the divider in the middle or the lack of desktop height; 1200 vs 1024.  What ever the reason, I didn't like it.

A couple of days ago, I was feeling weak and bought a new 21" LCD.  It arrived today and I just installed it.  I really don't know what the big deal is, but I feel so-o-o much better now.

For those of you who think I'm just bragging...  I've been in the computer biz for 20+ years.  I'm allowed to have some nice toys and I'm allowed to share my happiness with my friends at DC.

If you are considering a dual screen setup, allow me to suggest that you try 1600x1200 first.  If I had $$ to burn, I donate some more to DC and buy a nice 2048x1536 monitor before I'd add a 2'nd 21".  :Thmbsup:

 :eusa_dance:

Hey Mouser,

Any luck getting a DC Discount from JPSoft?  I just visited their site and am fairly interested in Take Command.

For the uninitiated reading this... here's the link:
http://www.jpsoft.com/

While the Windows graphical interface is useful for simple tasks, the command line is often the best tool for system management, scripting, and other similar needs. 4NT and Take Command replace the crude utilities provided with Windows, giving you the most flexible and powerful command line available anywhere. Each of our products is a comprehensive command line tool designed to make the C:\> prompt truly productive, easy to use, and far more powerful. Each offer similar benefits -- major productivity enhancements to standard commands like COPY and DIR, over 100 new commands, improved command line editing, and thousands of other features for work at the command prompt. In addition, they are powerful batch file programming tools, providing extensions such as DO loops, error and exception handling, block-structured logic, a powerful integrated batch debugger, third-party plugins, and over 300 built-in variables and functions.  4NT and Take Command offer similar capabilities and features. They only differ based on whether they are a Console Mode or a Graphical User Interface (GUI) application.

  (pasted from CH&S)

When I say big, I mean as in big project, big pain, etc...  It'd be really cool tho.  :-[

Anyway, I was reading a thread about yet another desktop reminder program when it hit me... shouldn't this be part of the OS?  No, it should be an add on, but my calendar program can be a reminder, so can Act and 1/2 of my other apps.  Lots of overlap, nothing is quite right... you know how it works.

So the big idea is this:  The Grand Unified Desktop.  Basically it would just be the coordination point for many applets to do the things we all want.   

Then I Google'd GUD and found a couple.  Zope aims to do this via the web.  RedHat tried this with a KDE/Gnome combo, but I don't think it went very well. 

To do this on windows, you'd probably need to replace explorer.exe and start with something like blackbox.  There are lots of interesting GUI's to examine to see what works best.  AmigaDOS had REXX ports built into just about every app.  I think XML could server a similar purpose here.

At any rate, it's be a lot to take on... anyone intersted in starting a concept list... or is this just too... (insert your negative adjective here)?