Switching between desktop modes with one user account

[Dave M G]

Ubuntu Users,

There has to be a decent way of doing this:

Every couple of days I have to use Remote Desktop Viewer to allow a
coworker to see my desktop so we can collaborate on a project.

Unfortunately, Remote Desktop (VNC), can not handle Compiz, which I
prefer to use. So I have to switch window managers to Metacity (Gnome)
or Xfwm4 (Xubuntu).

One of the effects of doing this is that all the windows that I have
laid out over my four different desktops all lose their place. They all
bunch up over on one desktop, and if they are not in full screen mode,
they tend to move around. This seems to happen both when I switch in and
out of Compiz.

I think an ideal solution, since I only use specific applications when
collaborating via Remote Desktop, is if I could switch to another log in
session. One that would leave my usual environment as is, and start a
second one that was optimized for Remote Desktop. Then when I was done
collaborating, I could just close the session and return to normal.

The thing is that I know I can create another user, and maybe switch
sessions (though I'm not clear on how to run a second user session while
leaving the first in the background). But the problem is that I have to
create different home directories, move files around, and fiddle with
file sharing and permissions, which is a huge hassle.

I really just want the same user account to have two different "modes"
to toggle between.

Is that possible?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-- 
Dave M G