How to vertically split a dual widescreen into four virtual workspaces on ubuntu?

Question

I have dual widescreen setup on Ubuntu using twinview (Nvidia). I would like to split each monitor into two "virtual" screens, so at the end I get four virtual screens.

I could arrange my windows manually, but I'd like to be able to maximize a window and have it only consume half the monitor, and have its pop up dialogs centered on its half-screen.

I tired using using 'fakexinerama' (http://ktown.kde.org/~seli/fakexinerama/) for that as another post suggested, however I cannot get the second to work with it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks,

Answer 1

If you're using TwinView, it's likely you've disabled Xinerama. As such, fakexinerama won't work, since it works as its name implies: by "faking" the Xinerama information. If Xinerama is disabled, it doesn't matter what the Xinerama information says, it's just being ignored.

Using fakexinerama really seems to be the only game in town for doing what you (and I) want to do. (I'm using it to split two widescreens into four page-sized screens under dwm.)

Answer 2

You might want to try using a tiling window manager: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager . They tend to be highly configurable, and are designed for the kind of purpose you seem to be looking for.

I've used a number of them, and can highly recommend XMonad, Awesome, or wmii