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Is there any software that makes it possible to create a draggable desktop inside another desktop (where one desktop acts like a window within the other desktop?) I think this would be an extremely useful user interface concept, but I haven't seen it implemented so far.

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There is already such a thing as a virtual desktop - my idea here is to make the virtual desktop act like a window within another desktop. – Anderson Green Oct 6 '12 at 7:24
What about virtualisation software, like VirtualPC or VirtualBox? You can install any operating system on a virtual computer and display its desktop (or whatever UI it uses) in a window that can be dragged around. – Indrek Oct 6 '12 at 8:54
@Indrek That would work, but it would be extremely resource-intensive. Also, in that case, it would become almost impossible to drag a window from one desktop to another. (Installing an entire separate operating system would be overkill, wouldn't it?) – Anderson Green Oct 6 '12 at 14:37

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I note you haven't mentioned an OS here - In linux/X you can use the xephyr X server to nest multiple X sessions

here's an example of a 3 layer nesting off wikipedia enter image description here.

I also use a poor man's version of it by remoting into a system and treating that as a 'nested' session. Not as efficient, of course.

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Is it possible to create a launcher for one of the "nested desktops" within the "main" desktop? Also, is it possible to drag windows from one desktop to another? – Anderson Green Oct 6 '12 at 14:39
Also, can I find a tutorial anywhere that explains how to use this software? – Anderson Green Oct 6 '12 at 14:49
I found a useful tutorial: dedoimedo.com/computers/xephyr.html – Anderson Green Oct 6 '12 at 17:24
You could probably do the former quite easily, the latter, not as far as I know. – Journeyman Geek Oct 7 '12 at 9:14
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I am actually extremely unclear about what the user or business logic would be behind having a desktop, that can be dragged within/on top of another desktop as it's own window.

I do find it useful to have multiple desktops that are easy to switch to however, and would do just as good of a job as having a desktop that could be dragged within another one.

It's actually really wonderful to have multiple desktops, though nothing really beats having multiple monitors. However if you are like me, and do not have that as an option, then multiple desktops is the next best thing.

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The main benefit of creating multiple desktops is that it makes it easier to sort windows into groups - I want the windows to be draggable so that I can nest one desktop inside another, and so on. – Anderson Green Oct 7 '12 at 15:45
Also, it would be useful if one desktop could be displayed on top of the other desktop so that a window or icon could be dragged from one desktop to another. – Anderson Green Dec 6 '12 at 14:47

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