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I WAS the One · 10:17 PM

I was noticing that Windows users always or most of the time had tons of icons on the desktop, and I mean a lot of stuff that you can't even see the background picture... very crowded.
but for some reason Mac users just have the hard disk icon with one or two folders and thats it!...
I just got the HDs icons and nothing more... and when its getting crowded I get mad and start deleting a lot of stuff until I get my desktop clean.. are we all like that? it is bad to have a crowded desktop on a Mac?

theyoda3 · May 18, 2006, 04:23 PM

I think it's because we don't need shortcut icons to open applications. The dock is very quick and easy to use. It's not a bad thing for OS X if you have a lot of icons on your desktop. It just looks bad.

tooki · May 18, 2006, 04:29 PM

Speak for yourself, I WAS. My desktop seems to get filled with icons like a rabbit cage with opposite-sex bunnies in it. :sigh:

tooki

brassplayersrock² · May 18, 2006, 04:47 PM

and, theres a thing that says that if you have to many icons on your desktop than your computer lags a bit due to this, and the less you have on your desktop than "the faster" your computer is. i dont know if this is true or not, has anyone else heard of this?

TETENAL · May 18, 2006, 05:13 PM

I have a folder called "Cleanup later" (actually "Später aufräumen") on my desktop where I throw in everything I need to cleanup later (and never do). That way I always have a clean desktop.

Horsepoo!!! · May 18, 2006, 05:20 PM

My 17" monitor desktop is full...but I've found a solution...

I'm getting a 24" monitor.

tooki · May 18, 2006, 05:22 PM

Yeah. I have a "Desktop Crap" (Schreibtischmist

) folder for the same purpose. It also never gets cleaned out. It's like the desk drawer that has paper clips, rubber bands, random pen caps, a broken crayon, and a piece of wire laying in it for no purpose.

I have found that the Finder does take a moment to draw all the icons on the desktop. I really should clean up.

tooki

jmiddel · May 18, 2006, 06:24 PM

I don't like an empty desktop, it seems barren. I have 40 some folders and plenty of files that I am working with there, and it is so much easier simply to double click on stuff than any other way of doing things. It helps to have a 19" monitor. Also I tend to forget what I have if it's not in front of my nose, there is so much different stuff going on at any given time. I like horsepoo's idea of a 24 incher, Acer makes a great one, I am waiting 'till they come down in price.

Mediaman_12 · May 18, 2006, 06:52 PM

Most Windows users have super crowded desktops because the app installers always put one there by default (as well as creating there own 'Programe Group' in the Start menu AND a shortcut in the 'Quick launch bar'). Lots of users ether don't realise they can or cant be bothered to drag the things to the trash.

Yakov · May 18, 2006, 07:27 PM

the word is "crowded."
thank you.

i've seen plenty of disorganized Mac desktops, and plenty of well-groomed Windows ones.
ever since Windows copped the Mac desktop layout, it's been up to the individual user to keep his stuff in order.

y.

icruise · May 18, 2006, 09:51 PM

Yes, just about every installer (including iTunes and Quicktime BTW) put icons on your desktop by default. I always delete them, but I imagine a lot of people either don't know how or don't bother.

Still, both my parents use Macs, but their desktops are always cluttered with various things that they downloaded months ago, so I always have to clean it up for them.

MartiNZ · May 18, 2006, 09:57 PM

Hmmm, I thought it was more of a Mac thing to have a clean desktop. I have just the hard drive icon on mine, and even that is only really because spring-loaded folders still don't work in the Dock

.

FireWire · May 18, 2006, 10:19 PM

In my case, it quickly becomes crowded because it's faster to hit Command-D then save a file than reach for the mouse and select another folder. When it gets to the point where it takes too much time to redraw the desktop, I put everything in a folder called "Old desktop X". Currently I'm up to Old desktop 3

(310, 222 and 253 items, respectively) ... And Safari and my instant messaging clients are not even setup to download on the desktop!

Helmling · May 18, 2006, 10:24 PM

Mine's like my desk. It piles up occassionally. Right now, though, I just cleaned it so if I Expose the desktop I get my lovely rotating National Geographic images marred only by my apple icon for my HD, one little work in progress file, the dock and my audio control widgets.

Damn, going on four years and this machine is still so damned gorgeous it hurts.

- - e r i k - - · May 18, 2006, 10:38 PM

The first thing I do on a new Mac is create a Download folder and remove all stuff from the Desktop. Now my download folder is a mess, but at least I don't have crap on the desktop

I WAS the One · May 18, 2006, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

Yeah. I have a "Desktop Crap" (Schreibtischmist

) folder for the same purpose. It also never gets cleaned out. It's like the desk drawer that has paper clips, rubber bands, random pen caps, a broken crayon, and a piece of wire laying in it for no purpose.

I have found that the Finder does take a moment to draw all the icons on the desktop. I really should clean up.

tooki

I Would like to see your Macrowded desktop... I'm curious.. could you put a link here to see it?

hndsmman · May 18, 2006, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

The first thing I do on a new Mac is create a Download folder and remove all stuff from the Desktop. Now my download folder is a mess, but at least I don't have crap on the desktop

Same here

BTW at the risk of sounding like a noob, you can remove the HDD icon from your desktop if you want to. I did and it looks great.

Wevah · May 18, 2006, 11:05 PM

Hahaha, I do exactly what tooki, TETENAL, et. al. do, except I call my folder "Rubbish".

TheoCryst · May 18, 2006, 11:13 PM

Yeah, I have a completely spotless desktop 97% of the time. Right now all I have is my "Macintosh HD" and a CD. I HATE having a crowded desktop... even back when I was a Windows user, I rarely had more than 5-7 icons on the desktop.

Sometimes I miss the Start menu...

larrinski · May 18, 2006, 11:19 PM

When I used Windows, I used quicklauch for almost everything, until I used ObjectDock and saw the (Mac) light. I have never used the desktop except for a downloads folder and my connected servers, HD, and idisk. I store a Scratch folder in my finder sidebar to drag anything I might want to keep for considering later, and dump the rest in the trash...

Sourbook · May 18, 2006, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by Yakov

the word is "crowded." thank you.

I like "crowdy."

wataru · May 19, 2006, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock

and, theres a thing that says that if you have to many icons on your desktop than your computer lags a bit due to this, and the less you have on your desktop than "the faster" your computer is. i dont know if this is true or not, has anyone else heard of this?

Yes. The Finder is very slow to redraw when there are lots of files on the desktop. This is more of an issue with older versions of OS X and with older hardware.

hndsmman · May 19, 2006, 12:53 AM

Originally Posted by larrinski

I store a Scratch folder in my finder sidebar to drag anything I might want to keep for considering later, and dump the rest in the trash...

Nice idea. I just implemented it myself and it works great. Thank you.

Big Mac · May 19, 2006, 03:41 AM

I have a few more items on my desktop than I did in previous years. I have more items on my G5 desktop than on my iBook's desktop (which makes sense given the resolution differential). I have a Files From Desktop folder, an Application Installers folder, a Screen Shots folder and a few other important folders on my G5 account. Interestingly, despite my OS 9 heritage, I have chosen to hide my desktop HD icons - I never imagined I'd prefer that setting, but it's simply cleaner that way.

Jellytussle · May 19, 2006, 07:19 AM

See my shame:

It's desktops all the way down!

kick52 · May 19, 2006, 07:39 AM

i think that most mac users are like that because, it looks very scruffy and a dirty desktop dosnt suit a beautiful mac. windows users have there desktops scruffy because their computer looks like a beige molded lump of poo. also i am a minimalist. only Macintosh HD for me!

chris v · May 19, 2006, 09:14 AM

No folders, no aliases, no drive icons. I dump the occasional file there, but once I get to 8 or 10 files, I have to get rid of them. I don't see my desktop much during the day because I keep so many app windows open. I usually get to files through the open/save dialog, recently used items within an app, or a couple of keyboard shortcuts I've built into DragThing for my project folders.

My Downloads folder is a damn mess, though.

I WAS the One · 10:12 AM

I am a "One Icon Mac User" Person. two icons start a unstopable pain inside my eyes LOL, in fact when I move all the mess to a hidden folder called "Basura" (Junk in spanish) the day I want to clean it up, I feel that I need all that junk, so I stay with all that ... shame on me!

ism · May 19, 2006, 10:20 AM

Use my desktop as a 'worktop' a temporary location for files I'm working on, kind of like a big clipboard. whether in windows or OSX. Can't stand it being crowded.

Most of my colleagues desktops at work horrify me; full of crap. I just wish my physical desk was as tidy.

Millennium · May 19, 2006, 11:35 AM

From a technological standpoint, there's no reason not to have as many icons on your Desktop as you want. However, there seems to be a trend among Mac users to keep their desktops clean for aesthetic reasons.

It's just a matter of taste.

siMac · May 19, 2006, 11:51 AM

I heard that desktop icons are not like regular icons and that each one is drawn as a separate 'window' by the system, therefore having a lot of them does have an effect on your system speed.

chris v · May 19, 2006, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by Millennium

From a technological standpoint, there's no reason not to have as many icons on your Desktop as you want. However, there seems to be a trend among Mac users to keep their desktops clean for aesthetic reasons.

It's just a matter of taste.

I have a much harder time finding files in a pile of icons on my desktop than I do in a Finder window in column or list view. Even when I'm looking for stuff on my desktop, I tend to look at the "desktop" folder in a Finder window instead of the desktop itself.

wataru · May 19, 2006, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by wataru

Yes. The Finder is very slow to redraw when there are lots of files on the desktop. This is more of an issue with older versions of OS X and with older hardware.

Ahem.

Salty · May 19, 2006, 02:28 PM

My Desktop icons are somewhere around 48/48 and I normally have my iPod and SM card from my camera on there, so that's three icons, then it'll sometimes get as far as 3 columns if I'm working on a project. But that won't last for so long. I try and keep it clean. All my other folders are always organized.
That said my mom's MacMini is a freaking mess. She always drags things to the desktop accidently and never deletes them.

production_coordinator · May 20, 2006, 07:18 PM

I simply have a folder called temp... and put anything over 5 days old in there... but when I'm working on a nasty fast project, I can fill my 20" screen.

hndsmman · May 20, 2006, 11:00 PM

My desktop is usually absolutely spawtless.

jay3ld · May 20, 2006, 11:10 PM

ugh.....
well lets just say I have so many icons I dont bother setting a background image. I can't see it anyways.
Some day when I got nothing to do ill clean it up... or play cod2....

Ganesha · May 20, 2006, 11:41 PM

I have many untitled folders inside an untitled folder on my desktop... Current size, 482.2 MB... Hmmm... time to sort that folder.

Yakov · May 21, 2006, 01:27 AM

For those of you who have a hard time keeping a clean desktop, we have a cautionary movie for you:

View "An Icon's Tale"

wataru · May 21, 2006, 01:49 AM

Originally Posted by Yakov

For those of you who have a hard time keeping a clean desktop, we have a cautionary movie for you:

View "An Icon's Tale"

Haha! That was great.

kick52 · May 21, 2006, 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by Def Jef

My desktop is usually absolutely spawtless.

awww yeer. thats a nice background. my background is the ordinary, generic, boring, but still nice aqua blue.

Salty · May 22, 2006, 04:53 PM

My current desktop background.

MartiNZ · May 22, 2006, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Yakov

For those of you who have a hard time keeping a clean desktop, we have a cautionary movie for you:

View "An Icon's Tale"

Yep, very cool

.

midwinter · May 22, 2006, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

I have a folder called "Cleanup later" (actually "Später aufräumen") on my desktop where I throw in everything I need to cleanup later (and never do). That way I always have a clean desktop.

I have a bucket:

Gavin · May 23, 2006, 08:50 AM

Everyone seems to be missing the obvious "windows sucks" explanation.

Most people I know can't find anything on their win box so they just leave everything on the desktop, or wherever their application defaults to saving things. Also, I think it doesn't occur to them that they CAN remove those application links even if they wanted to. I don't mean the 5% of PC nerds, but the 90% of normal people who try to learn windows, get frustrated, and 7 years later are still doing the 10 things they learned in the first month.

It is much easier to organize things on a mac and find them later.

That said, I just sorted through most of the 342 things on my desktop 2 days ago.
My stack of dump folders say "sort me" all the way down.

I WAS the One · May 23, 2006, 09:33 AM

HAAAAA hahaha!

I know what you mean man, you are talking of my parents! LOL
and they use a Mac (a B/W G3) they do just the 10 things I explain to them the first day I install that Mac on their living room! yesterday I teach my mom how to change the edit view of iPhoto to full screen (now available on iLife 6) and they went like "OMG! I don't like it maybe I will loose all my pics".. and I was like.. "Huh? Mom PLEASE!!!" damn! my wife and I was laughing out load on the road when we were driving back home!

some people just don't want to learn nothing new. you know?

hey! anyone knows where to find an icon like a drawer or a open box with stuff inside...?

Jasoco · May 26, 2006, 07:39 PM

The icon set "Seventy Seven" has a file cabinet icon. And the BeOS set has boxes. I recommend 77 though. I got it from Xicons.com. (The URL changed. But it should still redirect.)

Edit: http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/details.php?id=1547

booboo · May 27, 2006, 07:58 PM

I keep having to buy larger monitors to accommodate all the crap I have on my desktop . . . !

Sourbook · May 27, 2006, 08:26 PM

I never thought of that. Could that justify the purchase of the 30-inch Cinema HD Display?

Hmmmm.

Gavin · May 28, 2006, 03:24 AM

Hell, with one of those HD projectors and a big wall you could have a desktop nine feet wide.

You wouldn't even need a filesystem. Need more space? Just back the projector up a few inches.