9 Handy Utilities for Optimizing Your Desktop and Display

Screen real estate seems to be acquiring less expensive per diem. I recently bought a pair of 24-inch Liquid crystal display monitors for a selfsame affordable price, whereas a few long time ago I could only dream up of having such a setup. On the other end of the spectrum, more and more citizenry are toting lilliputian netbooks with 10-column inch displays. But No weigh the sized of your Windows desktop, you buns get more than out of it with the help of unoccupied and low-cost tools.

(For golf links to all of these downloads in one convenient list, see our "9 Handy Utilities for Optimizing Your Desktop and Presentation" collection.)

Linux users have long been acquainted with the concept of a practical desktop–an entire copy of your screen background, gross with its own set of running applications and sometimes a custom wallpaper. You bottom switch to this virtual desktop whenever you need additive space, or just to focus on on a specific task. You'rhenium not qualified to just one extra essential screen background, either; close to people use four operating theatre more.

Although Windows doesn't include a inbuilt virtual desktop characteristic, you have cardinal very capable discharge options: VirtuaWin and Dexpot. VirtuaWin is bare-bones and fast, patc Dexpot offers tight integration with the Windows 7 taskbar by nonpayment, too as some fancy visual effects. The result isn't as seamless as Compiz Unification on Linux, but you execute get down a nice rotating-cube animation when shift between desktops.

If you hold ample desktop space already, you may be more interested in managing your windows more effectively. Windows 7 has a few nice built-in keyboard shortcuts (Windows-Left, Windows-Right, Windows-Up) for resizing windows, but you could kick things up a nick (or ternary) with the atrip utility program WinSplit Gyration. This mobile tool allows you to economic consumption your keyboard's number lodgings to quick relocation and resize windows to preset positions on your screen, creating a tight grid of Windows with no wasted space.

If you prefer dragging windows with the mouse, try the tiny utility program AltDrag. This freebie borrows another Linux feature, permitting you to drag windows around just by holding down the Alt key piece clicking on any part of the windowpane. You lav also use AltDrag to resize windows, and it even mimics Windows 7's Aero Snap feature, devising windows snap to one another as you scuff them or so.

Speaking of snapping, another useful free utility is AquaSnap. If you aren't using Windows 7 so far, you can commence a mouthful of the OS with this tool, which brings a somewhat improved version of Aero Snap to any Windows in operation system. When you draw any window to any edge or corner of the screen, it resizes consequently (drag on to the bottom-right corner, e.g., and the windowpane will take upfield the bottom-right tail of the screen). Even if you are using Windows 7, AquaSnap may come in handy: It has a feature film that lets you shiver a windowpane to keep it always on top (rather than to hide all other windows, as Windows 7's Aero Shake does by default).

Sometimes, resizing a window to occupy "a quarter of the sieve" doesn't cut it. Some situations (taking screenshots, for object lesson) call for pel-perfect window dimensions. Whenever I need to resize a window to a particular size, I reach for Sizer, a puny, free utility that does just this one affair–simply does it alright.

All of the free utilities above are great, but they cover very specific tasks. If you sustain a multiple-supervise setup and want unmatched all-around tool to make the most of it, consider either DisplayFusion or UltraMon. Both programs are commercial tools (DisplayFusion retails for $25 while UltraMon sells for $40), but they include oodles of options. Perhaps most important, some Lashkar-e-Toiba you extend the Windows taskbar so that it runs across multiple monitors.

Finis but non least is a utility for the Night owls. If you run to expend time in front of a computer screen cured after the insolate has set, the display's eerie blue glow English hawthorn be poignant the upper-class of your sleep (or maybe just the comfort of your eyes). Render the free and simple utility F.lux, which mechanically adjusts the color temperature of your screen at night to seduce colours warmer and less bluish. If you can't jib getting in uncomparable closing email before bed, F.lux might help you eternal sleep better when you finally unplug for the night.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/482380/9_handy_utilities_for_optimizing_your_desktop_and_display.html

Posted by: morristwounds.blogspot.com

Share this post