All popular IDEs (and most apps) seem stuck in a single-monitor paradigm. When are we going to get an IDE that sets the bar for working with multiple monitors? For inspiration, look at multi-monitor audio engineering consoles. Please
@jetbrains
VSCode recently got the feature to pop an editor tab to its own window. It makes the multi-monitor experience way better.
What kinda “multi-monitor” features are you looking for?
I usually use Visual Studio (the real one, not VSCode) - and their multi-monitor support seems fine to me. You can drag out any window component and put them somewhere else in a different screen. And when you drag things somewhere else, you can still snap them back together, so it’s really just 2 windows again, not just loose floating boxes.
Not OP, but in agreement. I like to split out multiple vertical panes in VS, and I put the edges of the panes at the edge of the monitors. It’s tedious to position them manually, and different tool windows run when debugging so I have to reposition the pane boundary’s again whenever switching between run/design time. It would be nice if it detected the edge of the monitors and kept the scroll bars and break-point column on the correct sides of the split.
Hmm, maybe I misunderstand what you want to do - but that works fine for me (on windows) - (are you on a different OS)?
Otherwise, try installing Powertoys - that comes with FancyZones and gives you more control over how window snapping should work.
and different tool windows run when debugging so I have to reposition the pane boundary’s again whenever switching between run/design time.
Also isn’t this a one-time-activity? Once you’ve put them in place, for me it remembers where it should be. Otherwise, I suppose in visual studio you can also manually save the layout (Window -> Save Window Layout) and then restore it again later (Window -> Apply Window Layout)
I use fancy zones for windows, and I have a zone that compromises one 4k screen and half of two others. That zone is for my VS window, two main code panes in the center and one off to each side.
It doesn’t remember the layout of the tool windows… I’ll have to look into the save/apply functionality you mentioned.
I prefer VS over vs-code, but in VS the window/tabs are bulky and slow compared to vs code which makes this all more annoying. First world problems though…
Edit: using VS 2022 on win 10
JetBrains IDEs can be easily configured for multi monitor setups. I use Rider daily and have a couple layouts saved for different purposes that make full use of 3 monitors, never really had a problem with it. Can you be more specific about what you want to achieve?
Yeah I can make a list of features that I’d like to have and annoyances that exist now, but I wouldn’t call it stuck in a single monitor paradigm either. Depends on what your needs are I guess!
Honestly I just ended up getting an ultrawide because of this. A bit more expensive than two monitors but also much better.
I was worried it would be a pain to put one app on each half of the screen when I wanted, but it actually isn’t at all. All OSes support easy shortcuts to do it (Win+left/right). Windows is the best at this but Linux is ok too. IIRC Mac needs a third party app (Spectacle? Or Rectangle or something?) but it’s free.
Windows also has the Powertoy FancyZones to setup custom snapping zones and profiles.
I worked with multi monitor in Visual Studio a decade ago. Jetbrains products are a joke and always will be
IMO, Jetbrain products are great. What else do you miss? Or are you just against them for no reason, like is common.
Personally i have never felt the need to use an IDE on multiple monitors.
If I wanted to it would be multiple windows with the code and I’m quite sure it’s possible to just drag the code tab out so it becomes a window.
Edit: according to someone below Jetbrain IDEs work great with multiple monitors.
I used them at my company, because I was sold on their marketing. In the years that followed, we reported over 300 issues to Jetbrains, and had the opportunity to observe their abysmal software development. They told us numerous times to upgrade to preview releases that supposed to fix our reported issues, but then those contained new issues. When they finally had a stable RC, they managed to fuck up the final release by last-minute changes. This happened at least 3 times while we were their customers. I ragequit all ties with that fucked up company and never looked back
Is there a specific audio engineering console your referring to? I cant imagine what you’re asking for besides supporting multiple windows which intellij does. You can break out tabs and docks into new windows and carry the windows over to other monitors.
@sudo Bitwig and Cubase are the first ones that come to mind
Microsoft Lync, as shitty as it was, allowed you to have multiple chat windows where ever you pleased.
I’m not really sure why you would want IDE to work like an audio console. There’s a huge difference in the workflow: when you’re doing audio you can only “see” the end result inside the app. On the contrary when you’re coding you can only see the end result OUTSIDE the IDE. Thus you need your first monitor with IDE contained and your second monitor with your app running with live reload and a browser window with docs and Stack Overflow. There’s no need to put an IDE everywhere - you’ll only be missing out in terms of productivity.
