[PubGuy]

Back in the DOS / Windows days, there were programs that allowed you to create a virtual display space so that if you had a 800 x 600 screen, you could specify you wanted a 1024x768 screen (or higher). This was wonderful for laptops that had limited resolution but you were running apps requiring a higher screen size. When you reached the edge of the screen, the window would automatically scroll until you hit the limit of the virtual screen size. Mac OSX has this feature with the CMD-OPT-+ key when you zoom in your screen. Works the same way.

I need a program that does this for OS X (specifically for an X11 session). The app was writter at 1280 x 1024 but the G4 iMac can only display a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768.

I've looked at the virtual desktops out there, but they all seem to partition the screen into workspaces. What I really need is a single-session (not multiple desktop) virtual window manager to allow me to specify the size of the monitor that I want to emulate.

Can anyone here help? Is there such a program for OS X?

[PubGuy]

Wow -- nobody can help here ???

Stumped y'all, eh?

[Fink-Nottle]

It's not so much that everyone is stumped as it is that we don't think such a application exists. I'm not a programmer but I would guess that Quartz etc would make such a hack significantly more complex under OS X. Good luck though!

[Twilly Spree]

Quartz is a very powerful graphics layer. I don't think it would be hard to program such an app because of Quartz.

I'm not a programmer but I've seen Quartz do amazing things. Exposé is one of them. Realtime scaling of all open windows. Impressive!

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by PubGuy:
Back in the DOS / Windows days

Are the days of Windows over now? :-D I have searched and not found what you are looking for.

[ryju]

What I've been running for a long time.. Switch Res (on Versiontracker.com) allows you to hook up an external monitor, and then the other monitor switches off allowing you to run at high resolutions (on the external monitor)...Kind of hard to explain.

[PubGuy]

yeah, the problem is that the G4-iMac can only display a maximum resolution of 1024x768, but the app I'm trying to run is a higher res than that -- it fills the entire screen (actuall, overfills it) and I can not get to the controls that fall outside the 1024x768 view port.

[ryju]

Originally posted by PubGuy:
yeah, the problem is that the G4-iMac can only display a maximum resolution of 1024x768, but the app I'm trying to run is a higher res than that -- it fills the entire screen (actuall, overfills it) and I can not get to the controls that fall outside the 1024x768 view port.

My G3 iMac only displays up to 1024x768 and with an external monitor and Switch Res I get 1280x1024.

[PubGuy]

Right, but there is no external monitor ports on an G4 Flat Panel iMac....so that does me no good at all.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by PubGuy:
Right, but there is no external monitor ports on an G4 Flat Panel iMac....so that does me no good at all.

Sure there is; you should've gotten a little VGA adapter in the box (or else you can get one for like $20 from Apple). There's a little monitor-out port on the back that you plug that adapter into.

[ryju]

Originally posted by Oneota:
Sure there is; you should've gotten a little VGA adapter in the box (or else you can get one for like $20 from Apple). There's a little monitor-out port on the back that you plug that adapter into.

Indeed, otherwise, SOL, and you're welcome for the suggestion.

[neoTony]

PubGuy: I know what you're talking about, but unfortunately there isn't anything under Mac OS X that does this. OS 9 used to have an extension that would give you virtual display space (such as under X11 - which is where this feature originated).

I have no idea how hard this would be - possibly a company like Unsanity (http://www.unsanity.com/) or perhaps the guy writing DesktopManager (http://wsmanager.sf.net/) might be able to help?

[moonmonkey]

Originally posted by Oneota:
Sure there is; you should've gotten a little VGA adapter in the box (or else you can get one for like $20 from Apple). There's a little monitor-out port on the back that you plug that adapter into.

There is a VGA port but it won't have shipped with an adaptor.

Most Flat panel iMacs are only capable of mirroring, so it wont make your resolution any larger.

As far as I know this there is no way to do this with OSX yet.

Virtual resolutions have been discussed on this board extensively and its totally possible with quartz.

[ryju]

My iMac G3 only supports mirroring. I have an external display hooked up to it using the VGA port. I'm running at 1280x1024, in OS X.

I guess maybe something with the iMac FP doesn't allow you to do this... I remember reading somewhere that it worked..

[PubGuy]

Thanks for the quality replie folks. I just thought some type of "Virtual Display Space" driver may have existed somewhere, but I just didn't know how or where to locate it. Dang....that sure would have solved my problem.

Thanks.

[Millennium]

The type of app you're talking about is called a virtual screen manager. As others have noted, this sort of thing originated with X11, and was quite popular several years ago.

This is not the same thing as a virtual desktop manager, which provides more "screens" rather than a single larger "screen". I've heard of both being used at once, though that's extremely cumbersome and so it's not popular.

Ahem. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of such an app existing for OSX. However, I figured I could at least give you another search term.

[ryaxnb]

Don't forget guys - he needs it for an X11 session. So maybe an X11 version would work. You could try to get XFree or whatever working under >console.