Is there a software that will increase Win 7 productivity like Expose and Spaces etc on OSX?

Hi all, i'm looking to increase my win7 productivity while using it. I know it is a different OS than osx and I have to get along with the way of using it. So far i've managed myself pretty well to give up most of os x convenience and try to love win 7. How ever Expose and Space are really two strong utilities in OS X that increased my productivity and I wish to remain those functions in Win 7, therefore I was wondering if you guys can suggest me any tutorials of how making your win7 more productive? Or if you guys can give me a list of software/apps/add-ons/plugins/widget, I would greatly appreciate.

Also if this thread turns out to be a productivity tweak for all win7 users that would even be more awesome

thanks in advance.

 

For a Spaces equivalent there's VirtuaWin. It's closer to the original (Linux) concept of virtual desktops than it is to OSX's implementation though.

 

#1 quit trying yo use the os's the same. after movng from OSX to Win 7 I find it more productive to begin with. but here are a few tips

Windows + tapping the tab key or using Alt + tab shift through your applications and windows VERY nicely.

pin your heavily used programs to th start bar and just hover your mouse over the active icon to show all windows in that application running.

for software set keyboard shortcuts for them. ( right click the shortcut in your applications list and go to properties. ) I find running they keyboard MUCH nicer.

the big thing is to play with it and learn the shortcuts

 

thanks for the infos I really appreciate it, I knew them already and they are still not on par with os X in terms of convenience and I am sure people will agree with me here.

 

Ha at the meantime I installed it and starts digging into it, do you happen to use it as well?

 

I'm on the opposite boat (new mba convert and forcing myself to use os x). So for sure its not an issue with the OS but with what our reflexes are used to.

 

Ha I struggled a little bit in november 2008 when I switched from windows xp to os x leopard. and then in 2009 summer I start using windows 7 from RC version and until today I still cannot get used to it in term of convenience.

I suggest you give your mba and osx some time and then you'll love it. though going back to windows will be hard haha

 

I always find Apple stuff to be confusing and non-intuitive(and never pay a dime to Steve). iPhone being the exception.

 

Why don't you stick with OS X rather than trying to imitate OS X in Windows?

 

You are wrong about that. Different people have different ideas of what "convenience", and "productivity" means for them.

 

Yea for some people, convenience and productivity is directly proportion to the number of blink blink and animations, you'd think they say that watching a movie is productive.

 

Switcher for Expose Switcher for Windows Vista
Not sure what the other one is.

And to people bickering back and forth about what he should do just answer the question at hand.
I'm a Windows user and to me Expose is more intuitive and functional than Alt/Win+Tabbing. To each his own.

 

In Windows 7, you can try Ctrl+Alt+Tab.
By the way, it may not work well if you have Gadgets on your desktop.

 

hey thanks a lot i'm looking at it now

i think it's not so easy to answer my question because most people will get offended when I compare the so "beloved windows" system to os x haha.

 

thanks for the tip I tried it and cramping three fingers on the left side is kinda weird for switching between apps but at least its something

 

No I am not offended when anyone compares Windows System to other OS.
I am just perplex that people actually believes that the delay caused by any Windowing Switching Animations is Productive.
It is like saying the speed humps actually increase the speed of cars.
Any unnecessary delays drops productivity.
On Linux I find the cube and the "expose" feature a waste of time. Clicking the taskbar is way faster yet the "waste of time feature" is one of the biggest pull factors for noobs to try Linux ... under the guise of productivity.

 

I have to disagree on your productivity remarks. I use my taskbar, but it only gets me so far. I tend to be heavily keyboard oriented when I'm actually sitting down and working on my machine. For most other things that require extensive mousing (browsing and stuff), I find that Switcher (installed today) works very well. I have a gaming mouse and also use mouse gestures extensively. I'm very fast. A simple flick to the corner of my screen and I'm moving between windows.

I've got CPU, RAM, and SSD on my side. There is NO lag for me.

 

Well I believe most people who praise the expose feature of osx does not base their appreciation over how the animation is cool or what so ever, maybe people prefer to have all their opened window outlayed in a way that they can comfortably choose in between them. If you like Linux there's no problem to that, however it isn't such a solid ground to use linux to bash on os x. And anyway, why you brought Linux in the first place when we were talking abt windows and os x?

 

thx for completing what I forgot,

 

I believe he was specifically talking about animation. I have the same feeling. It may be just a 0.5 second delay(not lag due to resource but deliberate delay to play the animation) but it makes me feel not comfortable which cost me productivity. Productivity sometimes is beyond measurable things, a bad seating position, fan noise all have effect on me.

 

first: in the time the animation happens, there's no way to do anything useful anyways. no one is THAT fast (with the mouse. on keyboard, you can continue while an animation still plays)

second: animations are not fancy deco, they have tons of visual information that helps you to understand faster what is going on. humans (and any animal) don't react onto instant things, they react on moving things. which makes sense, there is not much popping up right in front of you in real life.

example: if i minimize a window and have a short animation of it going to the taskbar button of choice, then i instantly have recorded where it went to, and thus where to look for to get it back. it if just vanishes, i don't.

the animation of alt-tabbing to another window takes about the time one need to refocus and scansearch the screen to see what one looks for in the new window anyways. targeting a moving object is much faster, though, than targeting differences that just popped in.


so technically, animations contain (or can contain) tons of great information, and they're processed much faster by the brain than the same environment lacking the animation.

so to each one thinking a .5sec animation is a problem never understood who he actually works (and don't explain me how you're different. this is basic reflexes, not 'i'm a geek, i'm different'. this is hour eyes and brain work together. analyzing moving objects. as it always did)

 

Bravo!

10char

 

You don't need three keys. Alt-Tab works fine.

Other than that, the advantage of Windows is, if you are into that kind of thing, there's literally dozens of options, many of them free, to add any OS X look-alike you want. Heck, if you insist, get WindowBlinds, and turn your Windows desktop into an OSX desktop, or any other desktop, including one you designed yourself. No idea why anybody would want to, but the option is there.

 

#1 largest boost to productivity.

Get a 2nd Monitor

 

This I agree.
However most of the time I already know where is what after using the same computer for so long so animation repositions objects and I have to find where is what.
My brain have a exact state my computer is in.
1. Animation sometimes have excessive delay this takes up time fancy at first but it gets irritating after a while especially when you brain is thinking very fast.
2. Animation consumes extra processing which takes up more time which brings back to point 1. In addition your eyes end up track extra animation.

 

That was what I thought too until I have one.

 

The irony of the OP's post, for anyone who doesn't use OS X, is that as of OS X 10.7 "Lion" Apple has significantly changed both Expose and Spaces. Expose is effectively gone, mostly replaced with Mission Control, and Spaces has been dumbed down and made less accessible.

So the two things the OP points out as being good things in OS X, even Apple doesn't seem to really care about.

 

Can you give examples of your points here? I can't imagine how anyone would stick with something that ran with excessive delays. Were my computer that slow and I gave Switcher a try... I'd stop using it. This is not the case for me though. It's virtually instant. I can't even imagine your scenario on any laptop withing the last 5 years.