Can I set up 2 monitors to be 2 separate Gnome virtual desktops instead of one big?

If I plug an external CRT to my laptop, it normally either displays the same picture as the laptop's panel, or extends the desktop area. But I'd like it to be a separate virtual desktop (a workspace, in terms of Gnome). Is it possible?

I use Toshiba L10 laptop with Intel 82852/855GM onboard card. And I switch (which, AFAIK, can be an inconvenience with Xinerama) monitor configurations (detach all monitors but a laptop's built-in panel, attach monitors with different resolutions) pretty often (sometimes many times a day).

Solution 1:

What kind of videocard are you using? With an nVidia card I would recommend using twinview. Otherwise it should be possible to simply enable xinerama for it to work.