Dual monitors are starting to become popular in offices and workstations around the world. Today, even the most basic computer hardware has no problems running multiple monitors at the same time, and a multi-monitor setup is a great way to improve productivity by displaying twice as much information on the screen at any one time.
Thankfully, Microsoft knows how popular multiple monitors are, and that’s why they integrated additional multi-monitor support in Windows 8. Here are a few tips that will help you get the most out of Windows 8 and its new multi-monitor features:
Edge detection on both monitors: When you connect multiple monitors to Windows 7, it seems to treat both monitors as a single entity. There is no edge between the two monitors; instead, it’s just one huge desktop. For that reason, you can’t get Windows 7 to recognize the inside edge of your monitors – which is a pain if you’re trying to dock a window to the side of the screen. Thankfully, Windows 8 fixes this problem, and users can easily drag apps wherever they need to go.
Dual taskbars: While it was possible to have multiple taskbars on dual monitors in Windows 7, users had to install third party apps in order to do it. Fortunately, Windows 8 makes it easy to customize multiple taskbars, which means users can have a taskbar that spans the entire bottom area of both of their monitors. To set up dual taskbars, simply right click on the taskbar and select ‘Properties’, then tick the “Show taskbar on all displays” radial button.
Support for portrait and landscape view: Some people have one monitor placed in landscape view (horizontal widescreen) while other people have one monitor in landscape and the other in portrait. In the past, it was difficult for Windows to figure out what was going on in display configurations like this, which often resulted in odd resizing errors when moving between Windows. Windows 8 fixes that problem, allowing users to create slideshows that show different images on different displays.
Beware of Windows 8 apps: While Windows 8 seems to have figured out how to run multiple monitors, Windows 8 apps haven’t quite caught up. Switching between monitors with Windows 8 apps can be problematic, particularly if you’re trying to resize apps across both monitors. Be aware of these app inconsistencies before you get too frustrated trying to figure out how to fix them.
