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This is a dumb solution for a non-problem. Seriously, Fitt's law? there's a law for that?

I get the law, but I just don't see it applying here. I have multiple displays because I do not want a barrier between my workspaces. This would cause more problems for me than it would solve. But, I suppose there is someone out there who would appreciate this.

Good article! The problems this application addresses are shared by all users of multiple displays, I'm sure. The developer has come up with a nice solution although your suggestions for improvements would make it even nicer.

I studied Fitts' Law in grad school. It is well known among Human Interface designers and theoreticians and was responsible for the mouse having been selected as one of the first pointing devices.

isaacbailey, on 17 May 2012 - 11:58 AM, said:

Considering it's a fundamental interface principle, yes

It may not be a problem for you, but using multiple displays considerably affects the overall user interface, and for some people, EgdeCase will be a welcome option.

flybynight, on 17 May 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

Fitts's Law definitely applies here, as explained in the article. That said, if you don't frequently need to select or work with UI elements near the shared edge between two displays, you probably won't find this useful.

The biggest issue I have is activating the app on the secondary monitor and having to travel back to the primary monitor to select menu items. What I would really like to see as a feature is another menu bar atop my secondary display, maybe with a modifier key that toggles to the Finder's menu bar for whichever display my cursor is on.

Another issue is I like it that OS X recognizes that if iTunes is the forward most window on my system (on the secondary monitor) it allows me to scroll and select links in Safari on my primary monitor, but then when I want to close the tab or window using Command-w it will close my iTune's window rather than the Safari window where my cursor is located. If EdgeCase could recognize where my cursor is and associate the keyboard sequence with the underlying app that would be great.

MEPace, on 17 May 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

I've reviewed a couple solutions for that. One is MenuPop (http://www.macworld....73/menupop.html), which puts the menu bar in a hierarchical menu wherever your pointer is—I use this regularly. Another is SecondBar (http://www.macworld....arprospect.html), which puts the menu bar on both displays (though I found it to be a bit buggy).

This is perfect for users of presentation software were multiple monitors are a secondary display output and you NEVER want the mouse pointer to be on them. Thanks for pointing out this great software!

Dan Frakes, on 17 May 2012 - 04:26 PM, said:

Radius shipped such a utility with their first exernal full page displays back on the original Mac's in the 80's I can't believe Apple still doesn't have a solution. I would love to see integrated support for say, a third mouse button, to pop up a hierarchal menu that's provided by the OS natively.

I would also love to be able to have what, I believe was a Solaris feature, a mode where the active window is the one where the mouse cursor is inside - and where NO OTHER DIALOG BOX OR WINDOW CAN STEAL FOCUS.

Nothing infuriates me more than to be typing along, especially if I am looking off-screen referring to something while typing, and then either hearing a cacophony of beeps or looking back and seeing the computer freaking out because some other application or dialog box stole focus from me. If I'm typing THATS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THE COMPUTER SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION TO.

Period.

The fact that no modern OS manufacturer seems to get this just galls me (Apple or Microsoft)

Good when we have second screen on top of the first screen.

But sometimes, the mouse have time to be on the second screen, and if I clic a this small moment, I change of app to Finder (because it have time to clic on the desktop).

Second thing is that even if the mouse is blocked on the primary screen, the system doesn't recognize I'm on a corner ; so hot corner doesn't work.

But thanks for this first version !!!

Any way to contact directly the dev instead of unsing twitter ? (I don't have twitter account)

VincentZorzi, on 23 May 2012 - 04:07 AM, said:

Hi Vincent, thanks for the report.

Regarding your second issue: OS X doesn't recognize a corner as a hotcorner if it is on a shared edge. So if the *corner* is touching/overlapping the other screen, it will not function as a hotcorner. But if you arrange your screens so that the corner is slightly offset from the other screen, even by a pixel, the hotcorner will function.

In the future I may see about "faking" a hotcorner when the system ignores it, but that's not in the immediate update plans. Hopefully you can get your desired setup by slightly tweaking your display arrangement.

In the future, you can email me at EdgeCaseApp at gmail dot com

Thanks!
Peter

This sort of capability has existed for years, and I have also been using it for years as well. Teleport. And, 'FREE' (donationware). So nothing new here in terms of capability. Time delay, Hold key, direct access, and external screen positioning can all be done.

http://abyssoft.com/software/teleport/
Version 1.1.1 works with SL and Lion.

Dan Frakes, on 17 May 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

I personally find it useful to have this barrier when say, I am working in my primary display and don't want my cursor to arbitrarily wander off into the second display. For example, I have online trading I am doing and monitoring on the second display. I want to see what's happening in price movements but I don't want my cursor to adhoc go floating on that display and disrupt various keyboard shortcuts on the primary display. So, I will use a control key (Cmd key depressed) when I want to shift my cursor in the secondary display but no control key to cross the barrier back into the primary display. This is possible with the 'Teleport' application I mention of in my post below. Teleport is very convenient and takes advantage of Apple's Bonjour.

tokyojerry, on 24 May 2012 - 08:08 PM, said:

Yes, this feature works when using Teleport, but Teleport is a very different program. (For those who haven't used it, Teleport lets you use another Mac's screen as a secondary display.) I know of no other way to get this feature when using multiple displays connected to a single Mac.