Q&A: Is Screen Spanning Supported on an iMac G5 ?

Q: Does adding a second display to my iMac G5 work well or is it a waste of money?
Jeff M. , via email.

A: Adding a second display to your iMac G5 works quite well out of the box. However, by default, it only supports 'mirroring' mode. What you see on your iMac screen is what you will see on the external display. This isn't a hardware limitation, but one put in place by Apple in open firmware. It differentiates the the consumer line from the pro line. The Pro machines support Screen Spanning, which makes it one big desktop.

Now, just because Apple limits it, doesn't make it set in stone. There is a piece of software, Screen Spanning Doctor, that hacks the open firmware of your iMac G5, and enables the screen spanning function. You can verify here, and see if you Mac will support the patch.

If yours is supported, follow this link to access it from the support forum or MacUpdate.

As a side note, the new iMacs with Intel chips now support extended desktops (screen spanning). It is definitely worth it, and will make you much more productive.

Note: This is a hack unsupported by Apple... so do it at your own risk. I can only speak from my own experiences, and it works great if you follow the directions carefully. I have successfully used this with my iBook G4 and it works great.