Add Virtual Desktops to Windows

Linux users out there are probably accustomed to the wonderful virtual desktop support in their desktop environments but Windows users don’t get to enjoy this luxury. In my past efforts to Linux-ize Windows, I’ve tried using a few virtual desktop tools before… all of which get immediately uninstalled by the next day. If you’re familiar with Power Toys, there’s a virtual desktop tool that you can use, but it’s super buggy and just isn’t very slick. I’ve also tried the virtual desktop tool that came with my ATI graphics card software, and it screws your taskbar order, as well as the application ordering on the screen. Neither of these virtual desktop tools have the seamless integration found in GNOME or KDE.

However, there is a free open source virtual desktop tool that I found recently that works great. It’s called VirtuaWin, and with the modular support of add-ons, you can completely extend and customize your virtual desktop experience. Modules that you can add include workspace labeling, automatic cycling, resizing, and even playing a sound depending upon entering a desktop. From their website:

VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop manager for the Windows operating system. A virtual desktop manager lets you organize applications over several virtual desktops (also called ‘workspaces’). Virtual desktops are very common in Unix/Linux, and once you get accustomed to using them, they become an essential part of a productive workflow. VirtuaWin is designed to be simple and elegant to use yet still be highly configurable and extensible.

Switching between desktops is as easy as click on the taskbar icon (see above picture) or pressing the right hot-key.

There’s another great virtual desktop tool called Virtual Dimension (screenshot above) that will allow you to assign different wallpapers to different desktops for better distinguishability and allow you to adjust window transparencies. It also supports a theoretically unlimited number of workspaces (versus VirtuaWin’s 20). I personally don’t care for transparencies and all the extra customization and tweaking available, so I prefer VirtuaWin’s straightforward lightweight simplicity. From Virtual Dimension’s website:

Welcome to Virtual Dimension: a free, fast, and feature-full virtual desktop manager for Windows platform. The main goal of this open-source project is indeed to enhance the Microsoft “Window Manager” up to the level of usual Unix Window Manager, by providing virtual desktops, as well as some additional features, like always on top, window shading…

Both are highly recommended alternatives to Power Toys and your video card’s software.

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