Virtual Desktop Manager
I saw Mario Aquino using a nice virtual desktop switcher at this month's St. Louis JUG meeting doing the Jemmy presentation.
It was the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Virtual Desktop Manager. Compared with the MegaScale MultiDesktop Manager I used in my Monitoring and Management presentation 75 days ago, this manager has two advantages and one disadvantage:
- It starts four desktops automatically upon logging in.
- I can switch to a different desktop with one click or a key combination (for when the PowerPoint is full screen.)
- It works only on Windows XP.
This feature has been built-in for Linux since the early days and is standard for GNOME and KDE. I'm so used to it that when I work on Windows I feel constricted. The Workspace Switcher, as it was called in GNOME, offers a preview of the different workspaces right there on the taskbar (which is properly called the GNOME Panel.)
The Windows Virtual Desktop Manager also offers a preview, but it is a full screen one. It looks flashy and all, but I still like the GNOME version better.
