I generally have lots of windows left open on my desktop whenever I am working. Call me lazy for not closing the unused ones, or call me overworked. The truth is things start to get out of control easily. Especially, if you have a small monitor and very little screen estate. Windows 7 does a nice job of managing this clutter with its awesome taskbar, however there are some applications you should download to help manage with your windows management.

I’ve listed 5 of the best apps to hide, resize and do some funky stuff like translucency, all in the name of productivity. Check them out:

KDE Window Resizer

One of the things I absolutely adore in KDE Window Resizer is how they handle window resizing and moving. You simply hold down the ALT key, just about grab the window from anywhere and you can move the window around. No need to grab the title bar. Perfect for situations when the title bar is off screen due to change in screen resolution. To resize the window, just hold the ALT key and click and drag the right mouse button and the window starts resizing according to the movement.

Window Hider

Window Hider is a simple application that you can use for managing the open windows. It does two things – it can hide the window you want by simply moving your mouse cursor to the corner or it can kill the application you specify.

You can give Window Hider a list of programs and a shortcut key then when you press that shortcut key it hides only those windows in your list. You can also activate hot corners on screen which hides all the programs in your list by simply moving the mouse cursor to the hot corner. Pretty cool.

Desk TopMost

So you have a lot of open windows? And you want to access the desktop icons? You could hit Win+D, but then you wouldn’t be able to return to the windows as they were opened, you would have restore the window from the taskbar yourself. Windows7 and Aero peek does an excellent job of it. In case you are not using Windows 7 or your computer doesn’t support the slick Aero Peek, you should try Desk Topmost. Just hit Ctrl + Alt + D and it provides you with a translucent overlay of your desktop over the open windows. After you are done, just right click anywhere and its gone.

Power Resizer

Allows you to mimic another one of the Windows 7 features, power resizer neatly fits your open windows to half screens or maximizes them as you drag them to a screen edge or to the top of the screen. Simon covered it earlier here.

WindowTabs

WindowTabs attaches a small tab to the top of your windows. You can then drag tabs on top of each other to group them into tabbed windows. Use Alt + Right Arrow and Alt + Left Arrow to cycle through the tabs. Clicking on the tab with your mouse cursor willl take you to the tab as well. The application has a trial and a full version. While the trial version doesn’t have any time limits or nag screens, you would be limited to 3 tabs per group, which is not so bad of a deal.

How did those apps help you with your cluttered screen? Know of any more applications that fit the criteria? Or perhaps better alternatives to the above? Let’s hear about them in the comments.