Comment 0 for bug 752098

Revision history for this message
Benjamin Humphrey (humphreybc) wrote :

I have a 15.4" laptop that I connect to a 24" Dell monitor when I'm at work. The laptop has a screen resolution of 1280 x 800, the 24" monitor is 1920 x 1080.

Because the laptop sits lower than the monitor, and because of both the resolution and physical size differences, a virtual "dead zone" appears above my laptop.

The mouse can be moved into this dead zone, and when I initiate "workspace switcher" it looks like attached image [1]. You can clearly see there is a black "dead zone" below the large monitor to the right, and a huge dead zone above the laptop screen on the left.

This is a problem in itself, because the mouse can be "lost" in the dead zone and not easily found unless the user knows where to look.

But the main issue is that Compiz sees this "dead zone" as a fairly enticing place to place windows (obviously because it reckons there is nothing there) - so whenever I start a new application (in this case a Terminal window), it spawns in the dead zone, and I can't see it. Unless I open up workspace switcher and "pull" it down into the visible area. Attached image [2].

Attached image [3] shows the setup I have, with the virtual dead zone highlighted.

This brainstorm idea from 12 months ago highlights the issue some more: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/24412/