Mission control and desktop spaces are two of the most unique features in OS X Mountain
Lion.
Used separately or together, they can change the way you work with open windows on your
computer.
Let's take a look at mission control first.
To open it, click the icon on the dock.
Alternatively, you can use an upward three-finger swipe (if you have a trackpad), or the two-finger
double-tap (if you have a Magic Mouse).
As you can see, mission control shows you all the files and apps that you currently
have open—even the little things that may have been open in the background.
This makes it easier to switch between different windows.
Just click the one you want… and mission control will take you there.
Now, mission control and desktop spaces are designed to work together very closely.
In fact, mission control is where you'll manage and access the different spaces you create.
Desktop spaces are virtual desktops that you can use to organize your open files and apps.
For example, if you have several windows open at one time, you can move some of them to
a different space to make room on your primary desktop.
Desktop spaces are represented by the thumbnails at the top of the screen.
To create a new space, hover your mouse over the top-right corner… then click this tab.
Your new space will appear here.
To delete one of your desktop spaces, all you have to do is hover over it, then click
the X.
Now we can move some of these open windows to our other desktop to get them out of the
way.
Just drag and drop the window you want… to the thumbnail at the top of the screen.
See how it works?
When you want to use the window again, simply switch to the desktop space where it's currently
being housed.
You can even change the background here to make it easier to tell the desktops apart.
To do this, right-click the desktop… then choose Change Desktop Background.
Once you've created several desktop spaces, you may want to experiment with different
ways to navigate between them.
Of course, you can always use mission control…
But it may be quicker to use gestures, or the arrow keys on your keyboard.
For example, try the two-finger swipe to the left or the right if you have a Magic Mouse.
If you have a Magic Trackpad (or a laptop with a trackpad), you can use the three-finger
swipe instead.
If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, just press control on your keyboard, then use the arrow
keys to switch back and forth.
With so much flexibility, desktop spaces and mission control give you everything you need
to personalize your workspace, and become a more productive Mac user.