Swords and Software

WindowsPager: Virtual Desktops on Windows

By Daniel D'Agostino, 2010-02-18

Virtual Desktops

Virtual desktops are a way of organising your taskbar into a set of workspaces. In each virtual desktop you can keep those applications that are relevant to a particular task. For example, if you are working on multiple projects and have three or four PuTTY sessions for each project, it is very easy to get confused when switching between applications.

Ubuntu 9.10 x86 with two virtual desktops
Ubuntu 9.10 x86 with two virtual desktops

I first discovered virtual desktops when I was beginning to use Linux. It is one of those great things in Linux that you miss if you're mainly a Windows user. They can really help you organise your work environment. Even Windows 7, with its revamped superbar taskbar, does not have built-in support for multiple desktops. Fortunately, there exists a virtual desktop solution for Windows, and it's free.

WindowsPager

Windows XP SP3 x86 with WindowsPager
Windows XP SP3 x86 with WindowsPager
Windows 7 RC x64 with WindowsPager
Windows 7 RC x64 with WindowsPager

WindowsPager is a free, open-source virtual desktop environment for Windows. It works on Windows 2000 onwards, and works on both 32- and 64-bit versions. It runs with a single click, without any need to install it.

I especially loved the ability to drag windows from one desktop to another, and the fact that the taskbar shows only the applications from your current desktop (older versions of Linux showed all applications - this has been fixed in more recent Linuxes and is not an issue in WindowsPager). Even when you Alt+Tab, you remain within the context of the applications in your current desktop.

Visit the WindowsPager homepage to learn more about its features and/or download it.

Related Links