# Double monitor Mac issue **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117 "2007-01-15T20:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/1 "2007-01-15T20:30:24Z")
I’ve hunted around and can’t find the answer to this one. I run my Macintosh with two monitors. One has my primary application that I’m working on, and the other has the support apps. It’s frustrating that the menu doesn’t move to the monitor the application is on, but I can live with that. What drives me nuts is Firefox. I run it on the secondary monitor, but it puts context menus, help text, even the bookmark drop-downs all over on the other monitor. I can’t find a way to fix this. Does anyone else have a solution? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/2 "2007-01-15T21:46:08Z")
And while we’re on this subject of extended desktop voodoo, does anyone know how to have two windows of the same PPT file open (one with notes, with a slideshow on the other) and keep the two windows in synch as you move through the slideshow? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/3 "2007-01-16T04:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > And while we’re on this subject of extended desktop voodoo, does anyone know how to have two windows of the same PPT file open (one with notes, with a slideshow on the other) and keep the two windows in synch as you move through the slideshow? I don’t think it’s possible. I’ve seen a setup like this used with Keynote (the Apple equivalent of PowerPoint), and each time, it’s been presented as one of the features which Keynote has but PowerPoint lacks. If you’re considering using Keynote, the method there is (quoted from the help page) > [@](#): > > To customize the presenter’s view: > > 1. Choose Keynote \> Preferences and click Presenter Display. > > 2. Select the checkbox labeled “Use alternate display to view presenter information” checkbox. > > 3. Select the information you want to appear on the presenter’s display. > > 4. To further customize what the presenter sees, click Edit Presenter Layout. Drag items to rearrange them. (sic on the 3 3) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/4 "2007-01-16T06:34:41Z")
What version of Firefox are you running? I use Firefox 2.0.0.1 on my dual-monitor Mac and it always puts the contextual menus and tooltips right by the cursor. (Although sometimes it will open a new window on the monitor it started on instead of the one I moved it to; that can be annoying.) The stationary menu bar has been a “feature” of multiple-monitor Macs since 1986. You’ll probably just have to live with it. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/5 "2007-01-16T08:16:08Z")
The same here - I am using Firefox 2.0 on my dual monitor Mac without any problems. Chronos - In Microsoft Office 2004 (Powerpoint Version 11.3.2): If you choose “Presenter Tools” in the view menu, you get on pour primary screen the Presenters View and on the secondary screen just the slide show. You may have to drag the boundary of the different screen areas devoted to current slide, notes and adjacent slides to get a decent view of everything. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/6 "2007-01-16T15:40:01Z")
Other than the main overhead menus (which of course pop down from the menubar, which in turn is modal and centralized on the main monitor), I don’t have any of those symptoms either. Contextual menus and etc all bloom in the vicinity of the cursor. Even dialogs spawned by the apps tend to show up on the screen that’s occupied by the mouse cursor (which can be disconcerting if my eyes are front and center but the mouse cursor is not). ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/7 "2007-01-16T17:37:05Z")
Hmm. I tried Keynote once and was disappointed for some reason. Maybe my problem is my old version of Powerpoint (I have no"presenter tools" section in the menus)? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/8 "2007-01-16T19:59:20Z")
Ok, I just checked it out and went and finally got a newer copy of Powerpoint and it does everything I hoped it would and more. Crisis averted. Thanks! I feel like an idiot now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/9 "2007-01-17T01:12:17Z")
Hm, maybe all the folks I’ve seen presentations from lately are just using old versions of PowerPoint, because they all said they couldn’t do it. Meanwhile, there’s been something of an exodus to Mac around here in the past few years (even those without Macs will often borrow one for a presentation), so most of the copies of Keynote would be newer versions. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/10 "2007-01-17T01:52:47Z")
Chronos-- one problem that the Mac users might be having is that on the iBooks the “extended display” potential is disabled as it comes out of the box-- perhaps that’s a “feature”, or perhaps it’s to make the more expensive Powerbooks look more attractive, and it’s possible that a person would potentially, in theory, have to look around to find a hypothetically existing firmware update to restore that functionality to their box. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/11 "2007-01-18T18:11:01Z")
I am on Firefox 1.5 - I’ll upgrade and see if that fixes the problem. Does it make a difference that my dual-monitor Mac is a MacBook Pro, using the built-in screen along with an external monitor? Does that setup behave differently than a desktop Mac with two monitors? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/12 "2007-01-18T20:19:26Z")
I was just able to, in the 'arrangement" section of the display control panel, drag the menu bar to the other monitor, Which previously I did not know was possible. That might help? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/13 "2007-01-18T21:06:31Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Chronos-- one problem that the Mac users might be having is that on the iBooks the “extended display” potential is disabled as it comes out of the box-- perhaps that’s a “feature”, or perhaps it’s to make the more expensive Powerbooks look more attractive, and it’s possible that a person would potentially, in theory, have to look around to find a hypothetically existing firmware update to restore that functionality to their box. [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > [Extended Desktop](http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html) Use an extended dektop with your iBook, iMac, or eMac (sic) Never used it, being a PowerBook owner myself. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-monitor-mac-issue/388117/14 "2007-01-18T23:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Hm, maybe all the folks I’ve seen presentations from lately are just using old versions of PowerPoint, because they all said they couldn’t do it. Meanwhile, there’s been something of an exodus to Mac around here in the past few years (even those without Macs will often borrow one for a presentation), so most of the copies of Keynote would be newer versions. [/QUOTE] Presenter Tools was introduced for MacPPT in version 2004. It’s been in WinPPT since the 2002 version. > [@anaglyph](#): > > Chronos - In Microsoft Office 2004 (Powerpoint Version 11.3.2): If you choose “Presenter Tools” in the view menu, you get on pour primary screen the Presenters View and on the secondary screen just the slide show. You may have to drag the boundary of the different screen areas devoted to current slide, notes and adjacent slides to get a decent view of everything. If you have two monitors hooked up, you can control which one gets the Slide Show window and which one gets the Presenter Tools window by going to Slide Show | Set Up Show. When MacPPT detects two monitors, it will enable a “Screen…” button in this dialog that lets you swap display windows.