Here is a guide that will explain how to create window placement rules, with these rules you can assign a workspace to a program. So Evolution opens on workspace 2, the update manager on workspace 3 and so on. To use this option you need to have the CompizConfig Settings Manager installed. This option can be useful for people with smaller screens.
Open the CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm), press Alt+F2 and type: ccsm and follow these steps.
1. Click on the Window Management button.
2. Click on the Place Windows button.
3. Click on the Fixed Window Placement tab.
4. Click on the New button (Windows with fixed viewport section).
5. Change X Viewport Positions and Y Viewport Positions.
6. Click on the + button.
7. Open the program you want to create the rule for.
8. Click on the Grab button.
9. Click on the window of the program where you create the rule for.
10. Click on the Add button.
11. Click on the Close button.
Now the window placement rule is created and you can repeat these steps for every program you want to create a rule for.
Workspace 1: X Viewport Position 1 and Y Viewport Position 1
Workspace 2: X Viewport Position 2 and Y Viewport Position 1
Workspace 3: X Viewport Position 1 and Y Viewport Position 2
Workspace 4: X Viewport Position 2 and Y Viewport Position 2
If you don’t have the CompizConfig Settings Manager installed read this article. It will show you how to install the CompizConfig Settings Manager and the desktop effects.