A Portal to a Portal

Having been back on Ubuntu 9.10 ( Karmic ) for a few weeks, I've been reacquainting myself with the loveliness that is Compiz.

This includes the ability to be able to zoom in and out of the virtual desktops, in a manner similar to that used in Spaces and Expose on the Mac.

For me, with a UK keyboard on a Thinkpad T60p, the magic keystroke is, by default, is [Windows] + [E], also known as [Super][E].

This zooms OUT like this: -




















I can then select the required desktop, and hit the right-hand mouse button ( button 2 ) to zoom back in to the chosen one.

However, it gets better.

Compiz also includes the ability to zoom in: -




















Again, for me, this is [Windows] + [Button4] which translates to the middle mouse button of the trackpoint on the Thinkpad keyboard.

Having done this, I wasn't sure how to zoom back out, and ended up struggling to restore my desktop.

Thankfully, a quick Sametime chat with my Hursley colleagues http://twitter.com/robhodges and http://twitter.com/spradders managed to save the day.

Having zoomed IN, the trick is to use [Windows] + [E] to return to the many desktops view, and then hit [Esc].

So, in conclusion, here's the magic keystrokes: -

Show MANY desktops        [Windows] + [E]
Go to a desktop                  Select and hit [button2] - right-hand mouse button
Zoom in                              [Windows] + [button3] - middle mouse button ( on Trackpad )
Zoom out                            [Windows] + [E] + [Esc]