Currently, there is only a subtle distinction between virtual desktops and Plasma Activities, which leaves much of Activities’ potential unused. In practice, Activities function as virtual desktops with separate Plasma states and configurations, resembling how virtual desktops behaved in the KDE 3 era, where switching desktops affected not only window placement but also the wallpaper.
Having two similar paradigms—Activities and virtual desktops—opens the possibility of keeping one implementation lean while allowing the other to be more powerful. Implementing per-screen Activities, allowing Activities to effectively function as per-screen virtual desktops, would address a long-standing usability gap for multi-monitor users without altering the existing virtual desktop model.
On multi-monitor systems, it is common to assign different roles to different screens (for example, focused work on one monitor and communication or reference material on another). With global Activities, switching context affects all screens simultaneously, even when only one screen needs to change. Per-screen Activities would allow each monitor to maintain its own context while still benefiting from Activities’ separation of windows, widgets, and panels.
Touchpad and gesture navigation should follow the same principle. Gestures should move between Activities on the screen that currently has mouse focus, rather than switching Activities globally. This aligns with user intent, as gestures are spatial and typically performed while interacting with a specific screen.
Under this model, virtual desktops would remain global and linear, preserving existing navigation and gesture semantics. Activities would instead regain a clear role as flexible, contextual workspaces that can be applied per screen when needed.