It is no secret that I LOVE me some SysInternal Tools. I have covered AutoRuns here at MakeUseOf.com and a ton of others over at AskTheAdmin.com.
Since Microsoft bought Sysinternals there have been some really cool new tools. The newest one on the scene is Virtual Desktop Manager. Virtual Desktop Manager might be a foreign concept to Windows users. But those of you loving a flavor of ‘Nix or maybe you are a Ubuntu Fan then you know what I am talking about.
It is a simple 384kb download that gives you multiple, easy to switch to desktops. You can have 4 different desktops each with different applications opened or even the same application with different windows. If you have been long time MakeUseOf reader then you’re probably familiar with virtual desktops already.
I normally have a gagillion windows opened including Windows Media Player, One of my various blog editors, email, pron And actual work!
Now I can keep each work space populated with what i need for that task.
And the best part is if you are playing music in one of your virtual desktops it still is available as you switch around. Now let’s check out how it works. You download the executable from here.
As I went looking for the link for you guys I discovered a newer version of Virtual Desktop called Desktops. I will have to give it a thorough workout and report back any differences and which is actually better. Personally I LOVE Virtual Desktop and don’t think it needed any improving!
After you download and install the exe right click on your task bar choose tool bars and select Desktop Manager.
That will put this in your system tray to the left of the time. As you probably guessed each icon represents a desktop and the first button shows you all four screens in a sort of full screen mode.
Right click on the toolbar to get the following menu. You can then configure your background images on each desktop and setup some nifty shortcut keys.
Here you see the options menu where you can select your images and hotkeys for easy switching
This is a shot of my four desktops.
And if you decide it’s not for you and you exit out of the applications all the windows will be restored to your normal single desktop. Do you use a desktop manager? Have you downloaded and tried Desktops? Let us know in the comments!
(By) Karl L. Gechlik is a superhero of the IT industry who wears many hats and changes in telephone booths. Karl mostly uses his powers for good and the occasional hysterical prank. Get your geek on & follow his geeky antics at the NEW askTheAdmin.com today. Stop by and see what we are all about!
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Filed Under: Cool Software Apps ¦ Windows
Tags: desktop enhancements, Microsoft, virtual desktop
It’s been a while, I am really...
I can’t find the program mentioned from the link of Microsoft provided.
The links are there, look for them on the left side of the screen. Here is the direct download link to desktop manager:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/DeskmanPowertoySetup.exe
This wasn’t what I want but how can I remove it?
Simply disable the toolbar and everything is back to the way it was.
Whenever I click the Browse button under Configure Desktop Images, it crashes Explorer.
All windows from all desktops are always shown on the task bar. In my mind, one of the greatest benefits of virtual desktops is to reduce clutter in the task bar, but clearly that benefit is lost with Desktops.
So I decided I didn’t like the application, so I disabled the toolbar. But when I try to use one of the hotkeys (that should no longer be assigned when the application is not active), it crashes Explorer.
Desktops is looking very buggy, so I recommend that others stay away from it.
Help I don’t know how to enable it
you just have to right-click on the taskbar and add the desktop manager toolbar