How to use my accelerometer w/ Parallels

December 14, 2006 12:21 PM

I just got a new Macbook with Parallels and Windows XP pre-installed. I knew of someone who utilized the accelerometer to be able to flip between OSX and Windows by a slap of the side of the screen. How can I set this up on my MacBook?
posted by pelican to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

SmackBook Pro instructions.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:28 PM on December 14, 2006

You can just use VirtueDesktops. It has motion sensor switching built in.

Personally, I'm happy just a key combo to switch between XP and OS X.
posted by Cog at 12:58 PM on December 14, 2006

There's also ShadowBook (I think Virtue does this now, too) that uses the ambient light sensor to do the same thing. Very Jedi-looking.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 1:54 PM on December 14, 2006

I've used VirtueDesktops to switch between OS X and Win XP (running full screen using the latest public beta) using both the screen tap and the hand wave (light sensor).

Both are very cool to show off, but not so good in practice. Even after playing with the sensitivity settings, my workspaces tend to have too many vibrations/flickers that falsely set off the sensors.

So now I just use alt-tab to switch.
posted by ewagoner at 2:25 PM on December 14, 2006

I'm fond of Desktop Manager, but any switching application will do the job (and bear in mind that all of them will be obviated by the next version of the OS).

Like ewagoner, I think you'll find that tapping the side of the screen feels awkward after a while (though it *is* neat). I use opt/apple arrow to switch and it works great. I flop back and forth without moving my hands from the keyboard.

You'd be amazed at how this makes the ladies swoon. ; )
posted by aladfar at 2:40 PM on December 14, 2006

Yeah, VirtueDesktops has this built in. That being said, not only does it feel weird after a while, I'd worry about your hinge over time...
posted by delfuego at 8:36 PM on December 14, 2006

I really think all the gee whiz sensor stuff is overkill and not very usable day to day.

Here's my setup: five desktops: 1 - email/calendar/general surfing | 2 - work/code | 3 - documenations, api's, etc | 4 - win xp (full screen if need be) | 5 - ubuntu

This is mapped to the shortcut keys shift cmd Q thru shift cmd T. It works great and is very fast. I'm going to have change the shortcut keys soon though because some other apps want to use shift cmd R.

If you have more then 2 desktops then moving from "one end" to the other gets tedious - so direct shortcut keys are the way to go.
posted by rsanheim at 11:01 PM on December 14, 2006

Thanks for that link to Virtue Desktops, what a fantastic tool! This laptop is a bundle of joy, I swear to God. :-)
posted by PuGZ at 2:02 AM on December 15, 2006