RE: When do you prefer frames instead of windows?

[Drew Adams]

>  > I would ask an opposite question: IF you could use Emacs frames
>  > as easily as you can use Emacs windows, in what scenarios would
>  > you prefer using Emacs windows, and why?
> 
> ...mail reading, sql interaction and when working on two parts of
> the same file or two files with a macro...
> 
> If the frames could really be used like windows, then, it could be
> that I would be comfortable with separate frames.

That was the question.  "IF you could use frames as easily as you
can use Emacs windows..."  I certainly agree that currently you
cannot, especially with just vanilla Emacs.  But if you could...

> create several WindowMaker application icons with a single Emacs
> instance, and using a different image for each application icon.

That sounds like something that would pertain only to certain
platforms, since different platforms have different notions of
"icon" etc.  But the ability you mention sounds like it might
be useful.

> This was nice because that let me associate a certain frame with a
> certain workspace (i.e. e-mail on workspace 1 and db-interaction on
> workspace 6) and use a click on the application icon to jump to that
> workspace.

FYI, you can use bookmarks to similar effect.  With Bookmark+ you
can just jump to this or that desktop bookmark, to change between
Emacs "workspaces", as defined by desktop.el.  And it doesn't
matter whether you use one frame or 37 frames for such a workspace.

http://www.emacswiki.org/BookmarkPlus#DesktopBookmarks