Extended Desktop on Imac G5

Dual Display on Imac G5

I really like my Imac G5 despite being a self-professed tinkerer when it comes to macs. I think buying a used Power Mac G4, upgrading it, and then experiencing all kinds of problems cured me of tinkering for awhile. Of course, now I'm trying to win an ebay auction for a dual processor 500 mhz G4. My 20" Imac G5 is not very user friendly.

I learned after spending over an hour trying to crack it open that it was not user-serviceable when it comes to replacing the internal hard drive. I'm just glad I didn't break the damn thing after applying a significant amount of force to pry open the case.

Anyhow, after almost three years of day in and day out use of the Imac G5, I decided to make some upgrades to the old workhorse. I maxed out the ram to 2.5 GB and was looking for more. My internal hard drive upgrade became an external hard drive upgrade - from 250 mb to 500 mb. What else would extend the life of this ageing beast? What many of us overlook when it comes to computers is the part we look at - the display. One of the most beneficial upgrades to your mac or computer is to increase the size of the display. But how do we do this with an Imac? The computer is married to the display.

Dual Display on Imac G5

I had pretty much assumed that the Imac display was fixed and unchangeable. For some reason, I did some poking around and came across Screen Spanning Doctor.
Here's the 20" iMac working together with a 22" LCD - ain't it purty? By the way, I'm running OS 10.4.11. Not sure if Screen Spanning Doctor is compatible with Leopard yet.

Screen Spanning Doctor is a program which enables extended desktop mode in Open Firmware. Apple apparently disabled this feature in many of its consumer model computers such as the Imac. Since you are tapping into Open Firmware with Screen Spanning Doctor, you may also be voiding your computer warranty and risking possible harm. I took this into consideration and quickly installed Screen Spanning Doctor.

I needed a mini-VGA to VGA adaptor, which I bought retail for $20 and then bought another on ebay for less than half of that, in order to hook up a 19" flat screen to the ol' Ibook. I set the resolution the same on both displays and rode off into the sunset. I feel so much more productive being able to have 3-4 applications in full view on my desktop. No more tabbing between applications all day. Screen Spanning Doctor was a great application allowing me to break the Imac out of the consumer user mold.