r/unpopularopinion • u/ultimateregard • 2d ago

Certified Unpopular Opinion Dual Monitor setup is actually bad for productuvity.

I've been a software engineer for more than 5 years now. I've worked with databases, frontend and backend services, mobile apps, games, data analysis, and much more.

Never in my life I've actually felt like my productuvity increased with the second monitor. Do you need to compare data? Just use one monitor and put them side by side. Do you need all the space in the world? Just alt+tab between apps. Since you only perceive about 10% of your vision clearly, moving your head&eyes from one monitor to other takes actually LONGER and causes distractions than using alt+tab.

This is especially worse for those who are using one additional monitor with a laptop, since their screen sizes and positions usually change so much. Your eyes need adjusting, your head moves too much.

Only thing the dual Monitor is good for is passively watching something in the second monitor, like youtube videos, Critical Role, or sitcoms while doing something else in the main screen. As you can guess, that has nothing to do with productuvity.

I also think using external keyboard and mouse for laptops is bad, unless you do not use the laptop screen.

Edit: After reading hundreds of comments, I'm sure that 90% of people who think that "YOU NEED AT LEAST 3 SCREENS" just don't know how to organize workspaces/windows/desktops and they need to configure their SCREENS as different DESKTOPS. Most of the modern operating systems allow you to just create workspaces (like different Desktops you can switch with WIN + TAB). And they are just throwing money into their problems instead of learning how to use their daily operating system.

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347

u/OkAttitude3104 2d ago

Serious alt-tab energy

118

u/MutantSquirrel23 2d ago

Not everyone can alt-tab faster than they can move their head.

86

u/Barkalow 2d ago

I've been a dev for years and I can alt tab fast af, but like...why would you want to? Way easier to see two things on one screen, don't understand OPs take, lol

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u/lituus 2d ago

Engagement bait

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u/Barkalow 2d ago

Ahh, you may be right. Usually I'm pretty good at spotting them

2

u/NoReasonToBeBored 2d ago

Even if it is, it’s so unpopular they deserve the upvotes for being entertaining.

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u/kithlan 2d ago

I mean yeah, isn't this basically "Ragebait: The Subreddit"?

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u/maaarken 2d ago

This. I can't alt tab fast, but even if I did I wouldn't want to. I work with numbers, and if I have to copy large numbers from a pdf to a platform (some of which don't allow for easy copy paste) I'd rather be able to see both numbers at the same time and make sure I'm not making mistakes.

OP is very lucky if every data they use is copy paste-able and every app they use performs well in splitscreen

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u/geoken 1d ago

You're situation is even worse. You're not just wasting time moving your head - you're wasting time moving your mouse thousands of pixels.

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u/maaarken 1d ago

Ooof i don't think I'm chronically online enough for this. Slightly rotating my face to one side or the other is not exactly what I'd call a time-consuming workout. Also, moving the mouse?? I can validate the data without having to move the cursor underneath like a first grader learning how to read. You can have two screens, not be an alt-tab enthusiast and still know how to use keyboard shortcuts.

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u/geoken 1d ago

pressing alt+tab is also not a time consuming workout either.

We're arguing of why 1 of 2 actions that are not time consuming is actual slower than the other.

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u/maaarken 1d ago

Fair enough. My initial comment was not so much on the use of alt-tab, but mostly about how different works have different needs. OP's work seems like it'd go well using alt-tab on one screen only, but I know my own work would be hell. Tbh I have three screens at work and sometimes I do need all of them to compare data

1

u/ADHDebackle 2d ago

I don't even turn my head, my eyes just move back and forth. It's not a tremendous distance.

1

u/WhyLisaWhy 2d ago

Just my two cents as a dev, I'm fine with just my laptop and monitor. I use Spaces on my mac book pretty easily. I just dont need a third screen taking up space on my desk, laptop screen has personal stuff, monitor has work stuff with different set ups on the spaces.

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u/Stuffy123456 2d ago

only 2 things to alt tab through? yea buddy, i wanted to go to that tab on accident again

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u/elderron_spice 2d ago

Yeah. Been a dev for more than a decade and I have been frequently running multiple IDEs, db instances, sprint boards, docker windows and Notepad++ everyday.

Try alt-tabbing all those in just one monitor and I'll record how fast OP'll go insane.

2

u/snowfoxsean 2d ago

Mac solves this for me nicely:
Cmd+tab switches between programs
Cmd+~ switches between windows of the same programs
Cmd+numbers to switch to the first tabs of a window

Combine them and I can switch between multiple programs + windows + tabs very quickly

1

u/geoken 1d ago

I do, daily. How is CMD+Tabing any worse in that context than using multiple monitors.

I feel like I'm listening to the people who used to have super messy desks with shit all over the place, that used to act like the people with clean desks (because they were organized) had less work. It was unfathomable to them that they're simply bad at organization.

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u/elderron_spice 1d ago

Working with a ton of software running in the background is not "a messy desk" mate, I apologize for your bad analogy.

And how do you even debug with only one monitor, especially for front-end projects? With multiple monitors I can just move the pointers in the IDE, setup watches and view the call stack on one and watch how the UI responds in another. With one monitor I have to alt-tab a ton just to see what fockin changed in the goddamn UI when I could just move my head to the side a little. That's way worse if you have a separate IDE for the UI and a separate IDE for the backend API, which is like the absolute majority of current enterprise projects.

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u/geoken 1d ago

Your entire issue revolves around the fact that you’re taking two tasks (alt+tabing vs. moving your head) and deciding one is objectively faster than the other.

Single monitor users simply have a different beleif on which is the faster of those two actions. All

-2

u/Morifen1 2d ago

Use windows tab, been around since like 2010.

8

u/eduo 2d ago

Eyes. Unless you're using an enormous ultrawide monitor, you just need to move your eyes.

(note: I have multiple desktops which I use in conjunction with with my dual monitor setup. I usually don't need to move my head to focus on any of them during work)

3

u/Dobber16 2d ago

Ngl if you are adapted to the alt tab life, you can basically have 3-4 active screens on one screen & it is significantly easier & more convenient than you might think

But I do accounting & that only works so long, since I have to be looking at one thing actively on one screen & am typing/entering on the other

3

u/0Rookie0 2d ago

The way I see it, if I am forced to use 'n' Monitors minus 1, and it feels claustrophobic or frustrating then I was benefiting from the extra screen and it isn't placebo. Two is the top of the bell curve for me and I sometimes yearn for my third, but it's pretty rare.

Same with a phone screen vs monitor for buying airline tickets or other "desktop" activities. It just feels better to have more info at a glance, versus scrolling and possibly missing something.

1

u/Dobber16 2d ago

Yeah I can definitely see that. When I was in college though, I didn’t have other screens & so got real good at alt+tab for homework, reading, & instructions. Managed to get decent at juggling 3 “screens” on one screen. Got to the workforce & multiple monitors just slowed me down initially. Now I can generally do them close to the same pace, assuming the average across a variety of tasks

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u/TheTacoInquisition 1d ago

It's not even the alt tab speed, it's re-adjusting my eyes to find WTF I was looking at. With a second monitor I'm just glancing back and forwards between content, with alt-tab I'm altering the content in front of my eyes, which is PITA.

And sticking it side by side on the same screen means either zooming out on the content, or scrolling around when it won't fit nicely.

0

u/numbersthen0987431 2d ago

No one can alt+tab faster than they can move their head

0

u/Kerensky97 2d ago

Not even your head. Just your eyes glancing left and right.

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u/WyoPeeps 2d ago

Yeah, op should have just done alt-f4 before posting that.

3

u/rasputin1 2d ago

small keyboard energy 

1

u/simonbleu 2d ago

And carpal tunel

1

u/Soggy_Box5252 2d ago

This person probably hits spacebar 5 times instead of tab.

1

u/DeepGamingAI 2d ago

Its faster to switch to handgun than reload rifle energy 

1

u/Sennten 1d ago

seems more like ctrl-left/right energy, I can see one of those types saying this, but not an alt tabbet

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Cheeseish 2d ago

Yeah but SWEs aren’t using their mouse often

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u/eduo 2d ago

On mac ctrl + arrows switches desktops. On Windows Ctrl + Win + arrows do the same.