Windows XP Hacks

Extending Your Screen Real Estate with Virtual Desktops

Virtual desktops allow you to stretch your screen real estate well beyond its normal size, as well as to organize different views of your workspace.

At any point during the day, I might be writing software, listening to music, purchasing computer equipment, messing with my GPS and software, playing computer games with my son, or working with my editor. Sometimes, I’m doing all those things at once. It’s a wonder that I can keep all the windows organized. Fortunately, I don’t have to do all the organizing myself.

Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) gives me a way to organize the work I’m doing, using up to four switchable desktops. VDM is part of the unsupported PowerToys collection from Microsoft that includes TweakUI [Hack #8].

Download VDM from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp and install it on your machine. Once you have installed VDM, you will not notice anything new. You have to activate its toolbar before you can begin using it. To activate VDM, right-click on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select the Toolbars → Desktop Manager, as shown in Figure 8-6.

Figure 8-6. Activating the Virtual Desktop Manager

After you activate VDM, you will notice a new toolbar on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, as shown in Figure 8-7. To switch between desktops, press one of the numbered blue buttons. ...