Virtual desktops in windows. What is a virtual desktop (desktop) and why is it needed?
I would like to introduce to your attention the virtual desktops feature, which appeared in Windows 10. Some will call this feature a debut, but this is rather incorrect, since, in the functionality of operating systems and software virtual desks have been around for a long time. Operating systems like Mac OS have used desktops as a convenience for a long time. Now already Microsoft company I finally decided to add a virtual desktop feature to the new OS, which we will now analyze.
Windows 10 virtual desktops and their essence
I think everyone understands that such functionality in Windows 10 is needed for convenience when working with the OS, since now there are many programs and users can keep up to several windows of these programs open.
In addition, each desktop can be designed for a specific purpose, for example, one desktop for programs and documents, another for games, entertainment and websites. In general, you can place whatever you want on them. You can switch between tables very quickly and easily.
Want to know what size garage door to choose? Then here you go: http://stroy-frost.ru/blog/. High quality instructions.
Working with virtual desktops
Once you, I think, noticed that there is a button on the taskbar that symbolizes desktops, this is what it is, and it has a name “Task View”, it is the third after the Start button. As soon as you click on it, all running windows will be displayed in preview form. There will be a button in the lower right corner “Create desktop”.
If you click several times, a couple more virtual tables will appear; if there are a lot of tables, then you can switch between them using the corresponding buttons.
Now let's switch to another desktop. It can be seen that there are no running windows on it. You can launch a couple of applications and make sure that they are not on the other desktop. Also, you can move running applications from one desktop to another, for this, click right click mouse over the desktop from which you want to move windows, in the drop-down context menu, select “Move to” and indicate the desired desktop.
Need to close an unnecessary desktop? Not a problem, we open running desktops and below, next to them you will see a cross, which closes them.
By the way, if there were active windows on a closed desktop, they will move to the adjacent one.
Hotkeys when working with virtual desktops
To make working with tables more convenient and quick, you can use special combinations keys on Windows 10.
- Win+Tab— opens desktops. The same thing happens when we press a button.
- Win+Ctrl+left or right arrow— allows you to switch between desktops.
- Win+Ctrl+D— Creating a desktop
- Win+Ctrl+F4— Closing the desktop (current)
What is the disadvantage of desktops?
I want to summarize and express my opinion about virtual desktops in Windows 10, perhaps you will have your own opinion, tell us about it in the comments, everything will be very interesting.The first thing I want to say is that work tables cannot be swapped; I think if they could be moved, it would be convenient.
The main drawback, as for me, is that after restarting the computer or laptop, the desktops are not saved.
And finally, the last drawback is that in Windows 10 you cannot customize each desktop to suit your needs, in other words, ten desktops will have the same shortcuts, wallpapers and icons pinned to the taskbar.
I think that in the future, the virtual desktop function will be improved and most of these shortcomings will disappear; the system itself is still raw and you shouldn’t expect anything incredible from it yet. And that's all.
The Dexpot program is designed to create additional virtual desktops on the user's computer. Using this program, the user can create up to 20 desktops on his computer, each of which will have its own settings.
After installing the program, there will essentially be several virtual monitors on your computer, each with its own your own settings. You can easily switch between desktops to perform any actions on a specific desktop of your computer.
Each such Desktop will have its own shortcuts and an individual background image. Thus, you can expand your environment by distributing program shortcuts and folders across different desktops, launching or installing programs on a specific Desktop, with your own settings.
Dexpot is free for non-commercial use. The program has been translated into Russian and is easy to use. The program runs in the operating room Windows system, and even quite ancient versions of the operating system are supported.
You can download the Dexpot program from the official website of the manufacturer - the German company Dexpot GbR. From the downloads page you can download the regular version of the program, which will need to be installed on your computer, or a portable version - Dexpot Portable, which does not require installation on your computer.
dexpot download
The portable version of the program for creating desktops is launched from a folder. Next, let's look at installation on a computer. regular version Dexpot programs.
Install Dexpot on your computer. The program will be installed in Russian.
Once the installation is complete, Dexpot will be launched on your computer.
Launching Dexpot
The Dexpot program icon will appear in the notification area. When you hover the mouse cursor over it, the inscription will be displayed: “Dexpot - Virtual desktops for Windows.”
After right-clicking on the program icon, you can open already created desktops from the context menu (by default, 4 desktops have already been created in the program), or go to the program settings.
Dexpot Settings
You can go to the program settings by selecting “Settings” in the context menu.
In the “General” section you can select the required number of Desktops. Dexpot creates 4 desktops by default. You can change this number to another one in the “Number of desktops” section. In total, using the program you can create up to 20 desktops.
Here you can select the Desktop that will launch by default. To do this, you will need to select the appropriate Desktop number in the program settings.
In the “Running a program” subsection, you can activate the “Autorun with Windows” item. In this case, the program will be launched along with the start of the operating system. After the system starts, the Desktop that you selected in the program settings will be opened as the initial desktop.
Otherwise, you will be able to work with virtual desktops only after launching the Dexpot program. If you rarely use virtual desktops on your computer, then you may not activate the “Autorun with Windows” item so that the program does not uselessly use the resources of your computer.
After changing the settings, do not forget to click on the “Apply” and “OK” button.
In the “View” section you can configure the settings of the icon that is located in the notification area (tray). Here you can configure the parameters for opening windows using the “Ctrl” keyboard key and simultaneously clicking the mouse.
In the “Components” section, going to the “Table Manager”, “Table View”, “DexTab - Taskbar Switcher” tabs, “ Full Screen", you can customize the program settings if you are not satisfied with the default settings.
In the Controls section, you can configure hotkeys for the keyboard and for mouse switching.
By going to the “Switching tables” section, you can, in the “Desktop elements” tab, configure the display of elements that will be displayed on the Desktop.
In the “Desktop Elements” tab, you can enable the display of icons on different desktops, the display of a background image, and the display of Taskbar elements.
To customize the background image on the Desktop, you will need to activate the “Customize background image” item. You can then choose a custom background image for each virtual desktop.
In order for all desktops to display active, working in this moment application, you will need to activate the “Keep all taskbar buttons visible” option in the “Taskbar” subsection. All currently running programs will be displayed on the taskbar in all desktop windows. You can easily open a running program on any desktop.
In the “Desktop Icons” subsection, you will need to activate the “Customize Icons” item so that each desktop has its own shortcuts. Otherwise, the same shortcuts will appear on all desktops. Then click on the "Advanced" button.
After this, a window will open in which you will be asked to select a folder for setting up desktop icons: separate for each desktop, or public for all desktops.” To display different shortcuts on different desktops, select the option - “Create separate folder"for each desktop" and then click on the "OK" button.
In the settings of the “Plugins and Modules” section, you can connect additional plugins to the program, set or change the password for the program.
After selecting the corresponding plugin, it will appear next to short description the purpose of this plugin. You can configure the operation of this plugin by clicking on the “Configuration” button by selecting the desired settings.
For example, the Dexcube plugin allows you to run animated 3D effects for transitions between desktops.
Changing desktop backgrounds
In order to change the background on a specific desktop, you will need to select the “Customize desktops” context menu item.
In the "Customize Desktops - Dexpot" window, you will need to select the appropriate Desktop and then switch to the "Background" tab.
In the “Background” tab, using the “Browse” button, select the image on your computer that you want to make background image of this Desktop. Then click on the “Apply” button and then on the “OK” button.
Running desktops in Dexpot
There are several methods you can use to navigate to a specific desktop.
Press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard, and then click number key, which corresponds to the number of a specific Desktop. For example, the key combination “Alt” + “1”, etc.
After pressing the “Windows” + “W” keys, a panel with desktop windows will open on the computer screen. Hold down the Windows key while pressing and releasing the W key to navigate to the desired desktop. Then release the keyboard buttons.
By right-clicking on the Dexpot program icon in the notification area, you can launch a specific Desktop from the context menu.
Another way is to launch the virtual desktop from the Taskbar. After hovering the mouse cursor over the program icon, which is located on the Taskbar, a panel with thumbnails will appear that displays created in the program Dexpot workers tables.
After clicking on the miniature image of the desktop, you can go to the currently required virtual desktop to continue working on the computer.
Transferring folders and shortcuts between desktops
You can easily transfer folders or existing shortcuts to another Desktop.
In the notification area, right-click on the Dexpot program icon. In the context menu, select “Desktop Manager”. A panel with images of monitors will appear in the lower right area of the screen, which will correspond to the number of desktops created on your computer.
To transfer a shortcut, folder or file to another Desktop, you will need to drag this data using the mouse onto the image of the corresponding Desktop. Then you can click on the “Desktop Manager” item in the context menu again to turn off the display of the panel.
There is another way to transfer folders and shortcuts. To do this, first select the “Desktop Windows” item in the context menu, and then in the window that opens, in the “Windows” or “Icons” tab, switch to the desired desktop. Select a shortcut, folder or file, and then drag it with the mouse onto the corresponding Desktop on the left side of this window.
Conclusions of the article
By using free program Dexpot will be able to create additional virtual desktops in Windows, each with its own settings, which can be used on your computer.
Virtual desktops are the creation of duplicate windows, an original desktop with the ability to use any applications on it. In Windows 10, such functionality is included in the standard set of the supplied operating system, that is additional utilities does not require. Some users have long been familiar with such capabilities with Mac systems OS and Linux with its varieties.
Virtual desktops are a program that helps organize a convenient desktop for a specific type of activity.
You can use one table for work, another for games and a third for music, movies, on each of them you can run any tasks and use different functionality. You can create a lot of such duplicates, but you should correctly calculate the computer’s strengths; it’s better this way - 1 running program on 1 running window, if there are 4 of them, will already significantly load the computer’s resources.
Features of using “Task View” in Windows 10
The main idea that the company pursued when developing the extension was user convenience. Although Windows 10 does not yet have a full-fledged utility, there are shortcomings and limited functionality, but the fact that it exists at all gives us hope for further, more in-depth developments in this area.
How to open virtual desktops?
To use this feature, which is called "Task View" in Windows 10, you just need to call it from the taskbar.
When you first click, you will only see the inscription at the bottom of the screen “Add a desktop”, and in the future open desktops and their contents will be shown in miniature, which is by and large enough for comfortable work.
The advantage of “Task View” is the ability to drag windows between different desktops, which is not available in all third-party applications. There is also no noticeable reduction in system performance, which indicates that the program is well configured.
In order to switch between your open tables, you should either simply open the “Task View” application or use the hot keys Win + Ctrl + arrow in the desired direction.
If one of the windows in which there are open application, they are transferred to the adjacent virtual table on the left, except for closing the leftmost one. It should be noted that all options are available from the menu, but for greater comfort, you can use hot keys.
Using Hot Keys
Win +Ctrl +D– create a new desktop;
Win +Tab– open the “Task View” extension menu;
Win +F4– close the active desktop;
An important nuance is that after restarting the computer, you will have to start creating desktops all over again, because they are not saved. Although you have different desktops, pinned tasks and shortcuts remain the same, they can only be changed for all windows. Also significant drawback The built-in program is the lack of support for multiple monitors, it is not possible for separate screen enable another desktop, only one can be active.
For Windows 7, 8, the use of virtual desktops is not provided at all, but, as always, third-party developers will come to the rescue.
The apps we'll look at below can also be used on Windows 10 if you need more functionality. Designed to implement multiple desktops a large number of applications, most of them are free, but there is no point in considering them all, but we will analyze the highest quality and most popular ones.
Very beautiful and easy to use Dexpot program
Simple, intuitive clear interface, allows you not to bother with studying the instructions and learning to use the application. For private use, Dexpot is completely free. It opens in the taskbar, which allows you to switch to another virtual desktop with the same ease as to another open folder. Enough functional application, most even picky users will be satisfied after use.
Supports the " Full Screen View"when 4 are presented in miniature on our monitor virtual desks and you can manipulate programs opened in them.
There are such features as “Application Linking”, “Desktop Manager”, multiple settings and others auxiliary tools. Works like a truly complete desktop without imposing restrictions on use software product. There is the possibility of expanding functionality thanks to plugins that are presented on the manufacturer’s website.
How to work with the Virgo program?
The main advantages are absolutely free use and very light weight. Due to its simplicity, it is invisible and does not affect the operation of the computer in any way. It has a minimal set of functions, only the essentials; many people like this minimalist solution. All actions in the utility occur using hot keys:
Alt+n-where n, the window number, transitions between desktops;
Ctrl+n- where n, window number, selection of the active window;
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Q- close the application.
The utility will not show anything fancy or sophisticated, but it will do what is necessary. It is important not to use the same hotkeys in programs, because Virgo will process such requests.
There are many other options for implementing this feature in Windows 7, 8, but 2 Dexpot applications were selected as functional, extensible and beautiful application and Virgo, extremely easy to learn, minimalist design and low weight make them favorites.
If you still have questions on the topic “Virtual desktops in Windows 7,8 and 10”, you can ask them in the comments
if(function_exists("the_ratings")) ( the_ratings(); ) ?>
The desktop is the first thing you see on the monitor after the operating system finishes loading after turning on the computer. You could say that this is your main workplace, which can contain controls, objects, your documents and for running programs.
Worker Windows table divided into 2 parts:
- Task bar.
- Shortcuts area.
Computer taskbar
The taskbar is located at the very bottom of the desktop. It contains the Start button, panel quick launch, display panel open documents And running programs, notification area.
One of the important computer controls is the Start button. Left-clicking opens , which gives access to all computer controls, installed programs, operating system settings. This button turns off the computer, restarts, or goes into sleep mode.
The Quick Launch panel contains shortcuts to frequently launched programs. Here, to launch, you only need one click of the mouse button, which determined the name of this taskbar area.
On the running programs panel, open files and there are icons of currently open windows.
In the notification area, which is also called the “system tray,” there are icons of programs running in a quiet mode invisible to the user, the so-called background. As a rule, programs that start automatically when booting Windows and do not require user action. There is a calendar with a clock, a volume control icon and an icon for connecting to the Internet or local network. This area also displays pop-up messages that indicate an event. For example, about the availability of fresh updates for the operating system, messages from programs running in the background, etc.
Desktop shortcut area
This area contains programs, frequently used files and folders, double click by which it opens these objects. Initially, after Windows installations, on the desktop you will see only a few icons: depending on the version of the operating system, these are the Recycle Bin, My Computer, My Documents, Network Neighborhood icons.
While working with your computer, you can add and remove the shortcuts you need, and arrange them as you please. All icons here are located on the so-called desktop background, which is called “wallpaper”. You can change the wallpaper yourself depending on your taste from the available Windows set or by setting any photo as the background.
Thus, we can say that practically the desktop is your main virtual workplace at the computer. Just like with an ordinary table, here you have all the tools and materials you need.
Share.This is very easy to implement. Even if you have two computers or monitors, you are not looking at both at the same time. You somehow switch your attention, move your gaze from one thing to another, right? This way you only need one computer at any given time.
What if, instead of “switching” your attention, looking from one monitor to another, you always look at one monitor, but it will show you “ different computers", optionally, depending on what you need at the moment? Not a bad idea, right?
This is precisely why there are virtual desktop (desktop) managers, various graphical shells in which such functionality is built-in. If you have ever seen any operating system on Linux based, then you should be familiar with what I'm talking about. For almost any graphical shell in similar systems has this functionality. And even if there is no graphical shell at all (and this can happen very easily in Linux, because the graphical shell there plays no more important role than normal application like, say, your browser in which you are reading this article) - there are virtual consoles
Callout. In this article, by console we mean text interface user, where operating system controlled by input certain commands from the keyboard, command line.
Linux + Windows = Friendship
If you are using one of Linux distributions, and you don’t need Windows OS at all, then you can calmly close this article, because there will be nothing interesting for you further in it. But if you are an experienced user using Linux, and even accustomed to its conveniences, but you need to use Windows, then this may be very interesting to you. However, like everyone who does not have such experience.
What is a virtual desktop?
You know what a Windows desktop is, right? This is essentially everything that you see on the screen - starting from the picture (wallpaper) and ending with all the applications that you currently have running. In other words, what is called a “desktop” includes program icons (shortcuts), the taskbar, and running applications displayed on it, between which you can switch.
Now imagine that in addition to the desktop that you see in front of you now, with a browser open in full screen, and a bunch of minimized, currently unused programs, you have another similar desktop, but on it another one is open in full screen application, let's say word processor Word, and completely different programs are collapsed there. And you can switch to it much faster than if you had a browser and Word and a bunch of other applications open on the same desktop. This is a virtual desktop.
Why do we need virtual desktops?.
If you are in daily work You use only one application on the computer, let’s say a browser, maximum two, then you don’t need it. But this is rare, isn’t it?) Most often, we have about a dozen running various programs, which all hang on the panel, and we spend a lot of time in order to switch to the desired application at one time or another.
How many times will you need to press alt+tab to switch from the browser to any of the applications currently open on your desktop? Don't you get bored? Do you experience a feeling of chaos and a panic attack when you need to do something quickly, and you have two browser windows open on the same desktop? Text Document in Word, book in pdf, music player, mail program, and then the incoming one is blinking unread message on ICQ, and someone is calling on Skype?)
Two is better than one
Now imagine that you have two browser windows on one desktop, Word and a book on the second, a player and mailer on the third, and skype and icq on the fourth. And you can very easily and quickly switch to any of them, in the situation described above to the fourth desktop, in order to answer on Skype and icq.
I prefer the second option. Because it’s much more convenient for me to leisurely press alt+F5, to which I have a fourth virtual desktop attached, than to click alt+tab five times, skip over the currently needed program, and click altab ten more times to still switch to it . Which of us will spend less time and effort?) I hope I was able to convey to you why all this is needed, and whether it is necessary at all.
How to use virtual desktops in Windows.
In that case, let's move on to the most interesting part. What are virtual desktop managers and how to get involved with this convenience.
Software for installing desktops on Windows
To be honest, I don’t understand why Windows has not yet implemented such functionality by default, but you have to install third party utilities. And there are quite a lot of them, both simple and free, and more serious and for money. Such programs are small utilities that are installed on the system as a regular application. It also launches and provides an interface for setting up and managing virtual desktops. This very interface and customization options depend on the utility, but they all usually support basic functions- setting the number of virtual desktops, setting up hotkey combinations for switching to them.
Also, some managers allow you to set different wallpapers ( background pictures) for different desktops, and also allow you to choose whether to use various sets shortcuts on different tables, or display the same labels on everyone. Also, for some programs, you can set the settings so that they will be shown on all virtual desktops that you have, which, for example, is advisable in the case of the messenger (icq).
AltDesk and Dexpot
What programs exist for this, if you wish, you can find on the Internet yourself, read reviews and descriptions, download and try. I myself can say that for quite a long time I used the virtual desktop manager AltDesk, which, although paid, is very good. (By the way, the fact that it is paid is absolutely not a problem; I have not yet met paid software for Windows that would not be possible to find, download and use for free. So here it is only a matter of your conscience and perseverance in the search)).
I also had a chance to use Dexpot. It is also a worthy program, practically not inferior in functionality to AltDesk, but has an undoubted advantage over it - Dexpot is freeware, that is, it is free and freely distributed. There are others, as I already said - look, try.
Replacing the Windows graphical shell - to ardinal path.
Now there is a slightly different way to get virtual desktops. More precisely, you can replace graphical shell Windows, to one that supports virtual desktops. That is, absolutely everything is replaced - from design to window management. This path looks especially attractive to Linux adherents who are eager to use Windows.
BlackBox
There is a WM (window manager) called BlackBox, which is ported to Windows. So it simply replaces the standard graphic windows shell(explorer.exe). And you get all its benefits.
Namely:
- non-standard design, and there are thousands of design options.
- Everything is replaced - from window headers to the taskbar, system tray and menus.
- including (of course) virtual desktops.
- the opportunity is very flexible settings, for example, you can set hotkey combinations for various actions.
You can also attach various plugins to it, if you know what they are.
It's very free, very lightweight and very fast.
Perhaps this is not the only such environment, but I don’t know anymore.