Comment 22 for bug 626321

I too am affected by this bug and find it quite annoying since it destroys the current desktop layout, especially with my two-monitor setup. Just some ideas/suggestions:

I find the way dosbox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net) deals with fullscreen/windowed modes really well done:

. You can switch between fullscreen and windowed modes by hitting <M-Ret>.
. In fullscreen mode, you cannot <M-Tab> out, it seems to circumvent the window manager. BTW: Many games don't allow you to <M-Tab> out in Windows too.
. Fullscreen mode resolution does not affect desktop resolution in any way. It is restored when switching between the modes and after exiting dosbox.
. In windowed mode, <M-Tab> works as expected.

Native linux games work in a similar way (powermanga, neverball, frozenbubble) and do not mess up your workspace. This seems to be pretty standard with most games I've tried so far.

Wine behaves different: It seems it does not provide a real fullscreen mode like native linux games or dosbox. If the wine application crashes, resolution is not restored. But worst: If it ends normally, it does not restore the resolution too. Additionally, if you <M-Tab> out to another application, often the wine window is not restored correctly if you want to switch back to it, though this might be a window-manager related bug.

The current way to deal/workaround with these problems are:

1. Use xrandr to remember and restore the resolution (aka wrapping wine in a script). Sometimes, this still messes up the workspace (e.g. I have to restart conky etc.).
2. Start a separate xserver which you can VT-switch to. I have not tried this yet, however, this certainly would prevent wine messing up your current workspace layout. I guess this would be quite complicated to set up for most users, and dealing with your X configuration is a delicate thing especially when it has been quite a hassle to set up.