Virtual Desktops on Windows?

raist_online asks: "After long years of X11 (and recently Mac OS X) I'm now in a job that mandates Windows and uses some Windows-only tools, providing us with XP Pro installs. Using VMWare with dual heads means I can still mostly live in X11-based goodness but I'm really missing a virtual desktop when I have to use Windows. The MS Powertoy doesn't really cut it for me and I've been trying out Cooldesk (some task-bar integration but not behaving well) and altdesk (which is OK but doesn't integrate into the task-bar). I'm really looking for something as simple as the standard X11 pager. Please note that I HAVE to use native Windows for some things so suggestions for Wine / VMWare inside Linux are missing the point. Slashdot, what are your suggestions?"

I use nvidia's virtual desktops when I use XP

[RLiegh]

I don't have them set up at the moment, so I don't remember what they're called offhand; but one of the utilities that nvidia gives you gives you virtual desktops; though they're a lot clunkier (IMHO) to navigate than what you get with either GNOME or KDE. But, none-the-less; they're there. The downside being you have to have an nvidia card, of course.

Virtual Dimension

[no-body]

does it for me pretty good:

http://virt-dimension.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

the power toys - or whatever the junk is from M$ - sucks!

Virtuawin?

[Anonymous Coward]

Never really used it, but it might do what you want... http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

Re:Virtuawin? Absolutely!

[ewhac]

VirtuaWin [sourceforge.net] is a mandatory component of any new machine I set up for myself. I have it installed at home and at work, and I use it constantly. Windows is nearly unusable without it. And it's Free Software. Highly, highly recommended.

Schwab

Re:I use nvidia's virtual desktops when I use XP

[refitman]

At work I use a program called multidesk [fusion-soft.co.uk]. This has the added bonus of being free. It can support up to 9 desktops and you can map your own hot-keys for switching.

It loads into the taskbar and has a nice GUI where you can drag windows from desktop to desktop.

Re:I use nvidia's virtual desktops when I use XP

[LordNightwalker]

I've been using it for years; I just bound the previous/next desktop to the same keys used under gnome (CTRL+ALT+Left/Right), and it works just fine. Not as cool as the spinning cube in xgl/aiglx though... ;)

It's worth a try

[DutchMasterKiller]

Free for personal use last time I used it. http://www.dexpot.de/ [dexpot.de]

Re:UltraMon

[gbjbaanb]

However, it costs $40 if that matters to people who prefer free software like VirtuaWin.

Re:To better help answer the question...

[myc_lykaon]

I have use it constantly (at work) for the last 2 years.

1) It's slow, very slow.
2) Dialogs (such as VS.NET pops up a dialog when a file has changed) pop up on the visible screen, not on the screen occupied by the parent. You can waste time wondering why your app appears to have locked up - it's just waiting for you to clear a dialog on another desktop.
3) MS Excel looses all it's toolbars if you flip between virtual desktops.
4) Some apps don't behave well to being switched and the window contents 'slide' down inside their container.
5) If an app on one of the other desktops wanders off into the long grass and consumes lots of CPU, it's the devils own job to switch desktops. I find after starting using MSVDM I use taskmgr much more frequently.

That said, it's definately the best of a bad bunch.

Re:To better help answer the question...

[commadore_sponsz]

I'm using it at the moment and, whilst it does give you virtual desktops, it has its problems:

• I have yet to find a way to send windows to another desktop - they stay where you open them. This can lead to dialogue boxes on a different desktop to it's parent program.
• Some programs don't get on well with it, Excel 2003 loses the tool bars and one of our in-house apps hangs if you change desktop.
• If a program freezes it will lock things up when you try and change desktop - ctrl-alt-del is the only way I've found to get round this and killing the stuck process can kill explorer and bring everything back to destop 1.
• It can be slow to change desktops and will often re-arrange the order of windows and their buttons on the task bar when you return to a desktop.

It's better than no vrtual desktops but not by much. However, it does have the virtue of not showing up on our internal software audit scans as a verboten software install.

BlackBox for Windows?

[SpiritOfGrandeur]

I currently use bbLean [sourceforge.net]. It has not been updated in awhile but it is reliable.

xoblite - makes windows a little less hellish

[wulfbyte]

http://xoblite.net/ [xoblite.net]
Granted it's not been updated for almost a year now, but I use it at work for the very same reason. I use the edge flipping and mousewheel plugins with the pager so I have a lot of flexibility in how I move from desktop to desktop. It gives me Unix like interface and with Cygwin (which also has an option to run X windows but I've not played with it much) augmenting my command line, I'm almost happy with it.
I've used various Blackbox for Windows branches, and xoblite seems to be the best of them. Fast and stable; the only times I've had problems with it, could be traced back to another program.
Plus there is the added bonus that my Windows only co-workers can't figure out how to navigate around my machine.

Re:To better help answer the question...

[commadore_sponsz]

Yep, that does work but it's a long winded way of doing something I am used to doing with two mouse clicks in X. A menu item of 'Send to Desktop [n]' is what I call rather obvious, this I call an obscure workround, but that's semantics for you.

Wiki Article

[Corbets]

i figured someone would save me the trouble of posting this, but an hour or so later, no one has.... so here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop [wikipedia.org]

They list a bunch of alternatives on there. I hooked a friend up with Dextop, it works pretty slick.

Re:Virtuawin?

[eegreg]

I have tried out most of the free virtual desktops, and VirtuaWin is what I use. It does not show a graphical preview of other desktops. If you want that feature you may want to try dm2. If you are a real power user you way want to look at PowerPro. For any that you try out, just don't forget to try out all the options and configurations- they can make a big difference. But don't forget that multiple desktops on Windows is always a big hack. If you stick with just one desktop you may want to try TaskSwitchXP which is a nicer ALT+TAB windows manager.
Yeah, I'm running VMware too. Make sure to install VMware tools (may need to be using VMware server, not player). mount.cifs will get you connected to Windows. If you are using a NAT configuration and need to terminal to a server, use rsh/ssh -X

Vern

[chill]

Vern [freedownloadscenter.com]

BossKey

[erykjj]

10 desktops, lightweight, free, portable, allows window exclusion - works great
http://keir.net/bosskey.html [keir.net]

Enable Virtual Desktop

[mt stat]

From Enable Software at http://enablevirtualdesktop.com/ [enablevirtualdesktop.com] Works pretty much just like an X11 desktop pager, you can drag apps from window to window and they behave as expected. It also has a set of 'rules' that you can implement to handle apps that don't play nice. I have been using this software for 8 years now, it just works.

Re:Virtuawin? Absolutely!

[Eric Pierce]

I can vouch for this. I've used VirtuaWin for ~3 years, and it is hands down the best virtual windowing utility for Windows I've tried.

It's open source too.

Eric

Re:Virtuawin? Absolutely!

[couchslug]

"Highly, highly recommended."

Especially with the Cool Desktop Switcher module.

Re:GoScreen

[Anonymous Coward]

Another vote for GoScreen. It is rock solid, and has lots of nice features.