Last time we talked about Mac OS 10.5 Leopard’s remedy for CDS (you remember – “Cluttered Desktop Syndrome”) called “Stacks”.  As you’ll undoubtedly also recall, Stacks are created by dropping a folder of anything (applications, documents, images, movies, etc.) into Leopard’s dock.  Clicking the resulting icon creates either an attractive fanned list or semitransparent grid of icons representing the files contained in the folder.  Clicking on the icon of the file you’re looking for opens the file.

After a few weeks of hanging out with the Leopard full-time I am a big fan of Stacks.  Because I use a lot of applications all the time, my Dock is full.  To get easy access to the applications I don’t use all the time, I dropped my Applications folder into the dock to create an Applications stack.  Now every application on my Mac is (even more) right at my fingertip - not embedded in layers of submenus like the Windoze Start Menu.  But, I digress.  Let’s move on.

Nowadays, with an abundance of cheap RAM and operating systems (like Leopard) that love to multitask, computers willingly indulge humans who love to multitask as well.  Many humans (and not just “power users”) commonly work with several applications open on their computers at a time.  However, this multitasking comes with a price.

You guessed it – another outbreak of Cluttered Desktop Syndrome.  The symptoms of this strain of CDS, instead of desktops strewn with files, are desktops strewn with open application windows.  Previous versions of the Mac OS have dealt with CDS with features like Expose and minimizing windows.  Leopard combats this particularly virulent and nasty strain of CDS with a new feature called Spaces.

The idea behind Spaces, in a nutshell, is this: if your desktop is full, make another desktop.  Or two.  Or four.  Or more.  Here’s how it works.

Let’s use me as an example.  (Now, kids – I am not a role model – I just play one in the newspaper).  You can divide my daily computer chores into, oh, four categories.  They are, with the applications I use to accomplish them in parentheses:  email and web surfing (Mail, Safari, iChat); enjoying and creating music and video (iTunes, iMovie, QuickTime Player); writing (MS Word, Adobe GoLive, Safari); and, manipulating and organizing digital photos (iPhoto, Adobe Photoshop).

I could, at the start of the day, open all these applications, and have them all running until I shut down my Mac at night.  Eventually, however, they would start getting in the way of each other, and I’d start wasting time moving amongst them.

To the rescue comes Spaces.  I can create a space, a virtual desktop, for each of my categories of work.  In Space One I open Mail, Safari, and iChat.  In Space Two, iTunes, iMovie, and QuickTime Player.  And so forth.  You get the picture.

Let’s say I’m tracking stocks, or perhaps monitoring a breaking news story, and I want to have Safari open in every space.  Not a problem – I can set that as a preference, and it’s always there.

I can move between my spaces (no, Virginia, not MySpace…) with simple keystrokes.  Pressing the F8 key displays a grid showing all my spaces, with the applications open in them.  If I want to move an application from one space to another, I just grab the application window and drag it to the grid showing another space, and let go.  Fast.  Easy.  Fun.  Oh, and it’s as easy to get out of Spaces as it is to get in.  A couple of clicks. Cake.

Next time:  A long look at Quick Look.  I promise.