For my work Mac mini, I’ve settled on 9 spaces to contain my apps. Hyperspaces enhances the Mac’s built-in Spaces functionality by allowing you to customize each desktop background, name, growl integration, hotkeys, and more.
This is my Hyperspaces configuration.
Each space is dedicated to a specific mode. For instance, when I’m writing in Word or PowerPoint, I’m in space 1. When I switch to OmniFocus, I’m working in space 2. Chrome and any other browser is assigned to space 4 and so on.
I’m experimenting with the Dashboard space. I was keeping utilities like MiStat, a terminal, the console and that type of thing but once Geckoboard sent me an invite, I’ve been trying to focus on solely displaying my Geckoboard in that space.
I keep almost all apps at full screen. Sometimes I’ll split a screen in half, though. For instance, when reviewing an email that pertains to a report I’m writing, I will use SizeUp to align the email on the left and my report on the right. SizeUp is a great addition to Mac window management junkies like myself.
On my other Macs, I’m replicating this layout so that I feel comfortable on whichever Mac I move to. Of course, the more spaces you configure, the more you want. Got to keep that in mind. And the amount of RAM your Mac has makes a big impact on this kind of solution as well because once you configure all these spaces, you are going to want to keep all your apps running. I find 8 GB a very nice amount of RAM with plenty of breathing room for everything I need to do.