using a 2nd monitor

Hi,

Is there a way of putting windows such as inventory, map, chat, onto a second attached monitor ?

Thanks

Oxy

Not at this time, unless one of the alternate viewers does it.

It's a feature that's been suggested many times. I'd like to see it!

Here's a JIRA entry for it, for "snowglobe", LL's open-source viewer project:

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SNOW-98

Here's another JIRA entry, not specific to snowglobe:

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-467

I'm surprised no one has answered this yet, so I am bumping the thread.

The windows you mention are "child" windows of the Main SL window, and can normally only be displayed inside it.

However I look forward to some expert telling us that there is a way of moving them outside the main window ( even on the same monitor )

[/url]

I would, too. Thank you for the links, Cale.

The JIRA entries I'm talking about specifically request being able to move these windows outside the main frame.

Running dual wide-screen monitors myself, it's something I've wished for. I've seen my husband do it with Microsoft Flight Simulator, undocking the windows for various things and moving them over to the 2nd monitor, leaving his primary display free for just his primary view.

I would *LOVE* to be able to toss my IM's and inventory tabs over there to the 2nd monitor. At one point I simply spanned the SL viewer across both monitors and although the big wide screen gave me a lot of real estate to park the little windows ... it was odd having the monitor bezels in the center of my view. So I've gone back to SL full screen in one monitor, E-Mail and FireFox in the other monitor. It's nice being able to shop on XStreetSL in one monitor, while hanging out with my friends in the other.

unlikely to happen unless a really good coder set to it, the different windows are not classical windows "panels", they are rendered through the 3D window of the viewer, hence they can't "leave" it.

I don't have anything to add, but just posting so I can see if anyone has implemented this yet. The jira that is listed above mentions a linux viewer that someone is working on, but the links are broken.

I do it all the time with Flight Simulator myself, and a few other programs. It would significantly improve SL.

Yep, jira seems to be ill over there. The repository is still up.

http://gitweb.dzonux.net/?p=monovida.git

If you are able to run two copies of second life, you could have an invisible alt "riding along" with your primary, and just providing a camera view, and your main has all the inventory, IM, etc windows open.

Riding along would be using some gadget that lets the alt stay in a fixed location relative to the main.

Running two copies also lets you lower the graphics settings on the copy showing the floating windows, since it does not take much power to show text boxes. The one showing the 3D view area can be cranked up to high detail.

You can't undock windows from the main UI.

However, you can stretch the UI itself onto the second monitor, and then move your IM and inventory windows and HUD controls over to that part of the screen.

The downside of this is that it does put a heavier load on your graphics card. I see a noticeable drop in frame rate, and even though we have two 24" monitors, I generally keep SL to just one of them.

We got a preview at SLCC of the new viewer in development and it looks like in the future, many of those annoying floating windows are going to dock on the right hand side and combine into a single, tabbed entity. No firm release date, but it does look like there is a solution to "floating window clutter" in the future.

There was a call for testers about a month ago through a particular unnamed group by LL.
I applied. Just today I was contacted asking for more information and told they were forming the testing group. So it should not be too much longer.

So then I'll be restricted to someone else's idea of where the windows should be. Not sure about that being an improvement.

Maximum flexibility should be the goal. I dont mind a dock, if it's optional.

According to T Linden, there are currently something on order of 285 floater windows in the SL client. Anyone who creates content knows the agony of having your screen so filled with various floater windows that you don't realize when someone has walked up and is standing next to you saying hello.

I'm sure plenty of people will hate the idea, but I'm already anxious for a tabbed dock and not having to move stuff out of the way to see what I'm doing.

Pray to whatever gods may be that it's optional!

It's closer to 47 windows. (I've been writing the User's Manual wiki pages, and I think I have found almost all of them):

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Floating_Windows
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Floating_Windows

That's still a lot though.

Update: 52 windows I keep finding more.

Update2: 58 windows

Update3: 61 windows

*rummages around for a potato sack*

This was linked to from SLU -

T Linden's preview of the new viewer in development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-7pGtebYy4

Someone at Big Spaceship.

I *like* panel proliferation.

If you want to cut down the clutter, give me a virtual desktop. Hell, give me "Exposé" from OS X. It'd be EASY, you're already doing all the OpenGL layering and scaling.

SL is such a beautiful world to muck up with data. Can we vote on this as an issue so we can get some of the talented development team at LL working on a way to get all the data outside of the client as an option??? This would really imporve the virtual experience esp on multiple monitors. If anyone learns of anyway we can persuade the Lindens to make this a priority I will be happy to help in anyway I can... TYVM!!!!!

Did you read what i wrote?

When you make a 3D app if you code your interface without windows form, in your own "in house" directX windows system, they can't leave the rendering window because they do not exist outside of it.
Rebuilding all the sl interface with windows forms is possible but my guess would be it will take some time.

Don't suppose I could still apply, do you?

How does one join the unnamed group? Enter a null string in the group search?