The Mac OS X Dock provides a quick way to launch your favorite applications, but one thing I don't think Apple has thought about is how people use different apps depending on the task they're trying to complete. Spaces, Leopard's virtual desktop manager, makes it easy to create one desktop for work, another for fun, and so on.

Compiz Fusion is quickly becoming an important part of many Linux distributions, and I don't think that anyone would argue that the cube effect for switching between desktops is one of the most hyped features. Well, the cube could very well be on its way to retirement thanks to the cylinder effect that was just added.

We've got a treat for you if you're a Windows user and you've been lusting over a sweet 3D Desktop. Shock 4Way is a free application that gives you four virtual desktops to work with. I wouldn't say it is quite as good as the DeskSpace app, but it also doesn't cost $20 to buy.

You may remember an application called Yod'm that we wrote about back in March. It brought the famous 3D Linux virtual desktop manager over to the Windows side, but it was pretty rough around the edges.

Back in July we created a screencast of a great freeware app called Vista Virtual Desktops that made use of Vista's advanced Aero interface. The program has since gotten a much requested upgrade which includes support for the Windows XP operating system.

I received a few emails the other day when I posted about Compiz Fusion in the Full Circle Magazine. People were wondering whether I had successfully setup Compiz Fusion in Ubuntu, and what I had done to do it. Unfortunately the only computer that I have Ubuntu installed on right now has an integrated graphics card, and I haven’t been brave enough to see if Compiz Fusion works on it.

Virtual desktops are everywhere these days even though you may not realize it. Linux is the operating system that started the virtual desktop craze as a way to make your operating system more organized and more productive.