With monitors being as cheap as they are, many of you may not be aware that support for two or even three monitors is built into Windows XP, Vista, and Mac environments. For those of you who juggle multiple windows and programs at once it can be a real boon to have a second screen, and it can sometimes be as easy as simply plugging in another monitor and configuring your display settings.

NVIDIA and ATI, the largest producers of video cards, offer specific tools to enable multiple monitor support. After you've plugged in a second one,you'll want to boot up Windows and right-click the desktop. You should see "ATI Control Panel" or "Nvidia Control Panel" or something similar to what's below:

Click on that and choose "multiple monitor configuration". To get a desktop like mine below, you'll want to stretch your desktop across both monitors. Now, when placed side-by-side, they'll function as one giant monitor.

 

There are some great tools out there to manage 2 and even 3 monitor desktops, and some amazing wide-screen wallpapers available to boot. Check out the free tool, DisplayFusion, to really work those many screens:

DisplayFusion

... and click the wallpapers below for some free, downloadable, and truly georgous backgrounds:

If you need help, I'd be happy to come out and install a dual or triple monitor rig for you! 503-523-1012.

See you next time!