Multiple monitors for a single PC can help turn that 13-inch laptop screen into an efficient desktop command center. Email and IMs to the right, browsers to the left, and current tasks front and center.
The multi-monitor setup on current Windows PCs, however, still has its limitations, but Microsoft this week outlined some monitor-related improvements it plans to add to Windows 8.
At this point, approximately 14 percent of desktop PCs and 5 percent of laptop PCs run with multiple monitors, Microsoft said.
"We recognize that a key value of using multiple monitors lies in the desire to increase multitasking," Mark Yalovsky, a lead program manager on the Windows User Experience team, wrote in a blog post. "This is especially true of those of you who spend time arranging your desktop windows to maximize the available real estate across multiple displays."
As a result, Microsoft came up with four goals for Windows 8: make the desktop more personalized; improve the efficiency of accessing apps across monitors; improve Start menu access; and allow side-by-side Metro style and desktop apps.
On the personalization front, Yalovsky said Microsoft wanted users to be able to add their own touch to each monitor. At this point, the background image your choose for your desktop applies to all monitors, and depending on the size of those monitors, photos can look fine in one, but stretched and pixilated in another.
On Windows 8, however, users will have the option to select a different desktop background for each monitor, choose a slideshow that will cycle through each monitor, or have one image span across all monitors. With the slideshow option, Microsoft said it will choose images that best scale to the size of the monitor at hand.
Microsoft also plans to add the taskbar to each monitor, making it easier to determine which program is open. The default will be to have the full taskbar showing on all monitors, but you can customize it to only show the icons open on one particular monitor, if desired.
Microsoft also announced several upgrades it plans to add to the Release Preview of Windows 8, expected in June.
"On the Consumer Preview in a multi-monitor setup, it is difficult to find the Start screen and other UI that is invoked from the corners with a mouse, since those activation areas are only available on a single monitor," Yalovsky wrote. "In the upcoming Release Preview, we are making all the corners and edges alive on all monitors."
The update will also include improved "mouse targeting" to make it easier to launch apps.
For more, see the slideshow above. Also check out PCMag's Hands On With Windows 8 Consumer Preview and the slideshow below.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
