Mac OS X Lion gave us the ability to take apps full-screen, moving clutter and distractions out of the way and making organizing your desktop easier. Native apps like iPhoto, Safari, Mail and iCal supported this new full-screen mode out of the box, and third-party apps followed suit, including some of my favourites like Evernote, Chrome and Reeder.

But for anyone using more than one screen, this new full-screen mode renders that second or third screen a little pointless. For example, here’s a dual-screen setup with iTunes on the primary monitor and a peek at the second monitor, which displays Apple’s now-signature cross-hatch wallpaper:

OS X Lion Full Screen Mode with Dual Monitors

That cross-hatch wallpaper area on the second monitor does not allow for a window or another full-screen app to be placed on it. It doesn’t even allow for widgets from the dashboard area. In other words, it’s useless.

I have heard the arguments from the other side on this one, stating that a solution is to simply close your laptop and use only the external monitor, or that placing two full-screen applications next to each other isn’t really in line with Apple’s intent when they rolled out this feature. The intent was to allow you to focus on one application, one task, one project at a time. Dual-monitor setups don’t fit into this philosophy because they’re made to multitask. I am of the opinion this dialogue could swiftly be snuffed out if Apple would provide an option to either allow or disallow applications to concurrently run in full-screen mode when more than one display is hooked up.

As it stands, it seems like a deliberately lazy part of an otherwise great operating system.

My sister just got the iPhone, which I have had (and been in love with) for quite some time. Anyway, she asked me for a list of apps that I use, to get her started. I decided it might be good to share this with everyone, and maybe you can comment back with some that you love and can’t live without.

Apps I Use Every Day

Facebook
Tweetie 2 (twitter app)
Google Mobile (has voice-activated searching)
Evernote (for keeping track of ideas)
Remember the Milk (for tasks)
Remote (to remote-control your computer’s iTunes library)
CameraBag (neat photo taking app with filters)

Apps I Use Rather Frequently

Flixster Movies
Air Canada
Bump (contact sharing app for iPhones)
Urbanspoon (restaurant suggestion app)
Epicurious (recipes)
LinkedIn (social network for business)
eBuddy (multi-platform instant messaging app – MSN/Google Talk)
Photoshop mobile (photo editing app)
Shazam (recognizes music and tells you what it is – from the commercials)

Other Fun Things

PocketGuitar
Ocarina (flute application – blow into the microphone and press on the buttons to make sounds)
Boxcar (push notifications for twitter)
Kijiji
NESynth
Rogers My Account
FS5 Hockey – air hockey game
Tetris
Shrek Kart (like mario kart)

That’s about all for now. have fun! You might also consider jailbreaking your phone to allow it to install apps not sanctioned by Apple. These are things like MyWi (which turns your phone into a wireless network hub, so you can access your phone’s internet connection from any laptop, anywhere), a flashlight application, et cetera. There are myriad customizations you can do to your phone with an app called Winterboard, but be wary. It may slow down the phone’s performance.