VIRTUAL DESKTOP MANAGER

If you are familiar with GNOME and KDE in Linux, you know that you can have multiple virtual desktops. By this way, if you have to run many applications, you do not mess them up. You simply open applications in different virtual desktops. Even you can move applications among these virtual desktops. Same utility is available in Mac OS X named “Spaces” (I think).

The lack of multiple desktops in Windows Vista and XP is really annoying. You do not get any built in facility for Windows Vista n XP. You have to download 3rd party software to have virtual desktops at your Windows machine. There are some paid and free software available. Vista/XP Virtual Desktop Manager is one free available software which can create unlimited no. of virtual desktops.

* An infinite number of desktops only limited by the amount of memory in your computer
* A full screen desktop/window manager/switcher
* Live Vista thumbnails of all of your windows
* An alpha-blended indicator window to provide a visual indicator when you switch between desktops
* Hotkeys for up to 9 desktops using your numpad keys along with “send window to desktop” hotkeys
* A system tray icon to access a menu containing items for every desktop, no matter how many
* Multiple-monitor support
* Arrow key hotkeys
* One system tray icon per desktop (optional)
* Window-specific menus
* Sticky windows to exclude windows from the virtual desktop manager
* Per-desktop backgrounds
* XP support
* Thumbnail window tool
* Show all windows hotkey
* Show mini-preview at cursor hotkey
* Program rules for locking programs onto desktops
* Command line arguments for launching programs onto desktops, switching desktops, and showing the switcher

There are few keyboard shortcuts:
* Windows Key + Z – Show the fullscreen “switcher”
* Windows Key + W – Pop up the window menu for the active window
* Windows Key + Numpad 1…9 – Switch to the corresponding desktop, if it exists
* Windows Key + Arrow Keys – Move to the corresponding desktop
* Windows Key + Control + Numpad 1…9 – Send the foreground window to the corresponding desktop
* Windows Key + Control + Arrow Keys – Send the foreground window to the corresponding desktop

This is very small utility. Its installer is of just 1MB and after installation it does not take more than 2MB disk space. I tested it on Acer 8920G and it did not affect the performance of my machine. It is still in beta phaze v0.9.1. You can access home page HERE and download page is HERE.