TopDesk - Expose Clone For Windows XP

[OtakuSoftware]

Theres an Alt-Tab replacement that's part of the free Windows Power Toys suite.

Both TopDesk and Entbloess also let you configure ALT-TAB as a hotkey.

[Thrawn]

I'd get it if the windows didn't flicker just as the restore animation is finished. Can this be fixed? Otherwise very nice.

[OtakuSoftware]

Thrawn: It's a known issue (see our support page), and no, unfortunately it can't be fixed.

The flickering is caused by Windows redrawing the windows after they've been restored. If we stopped Windows redrawing the windows after they'd been restored, then all you'd be able to see would be corrupted or empty window contents.

If we find a way to minimize the flickering, we'll certainly put it in, but I don't think it's very likely, as the it's caused by the way the Windows graphic libraries operate.

The graphics libraries are getting on a bit nowadays (compared to the OS X graphics libraries), and were never meant to do things like Expose, so when you push them to achieve these kind of effects, their age shows. :)

[Lare2]

seems worth a try. especially if you are a multitask freak

[Raum]

Blackbox keeps me organized enough, but this seems to have potential. Glad to see people striving to improve current software. :)

[GiardinoSelvaggio]

OtakuSoftware,

Thanks for the reply. I have not purchaced your software, however I have installed the product and like its features. Also seeing that you have taken the constructive critisim from, not myself, but others and reduced the price, I would like to remove my earlier comments about being unflexible, and insecure. Also to clarify, I didn't mean insecure in the way that the product was designed, I ment personaly, by not being willing to lower the price to something more receptive due to the competition.

On a nother note I have purchaced a competores product and it was one of the best purchaces I've ever made. They were entirly receptive to all requests and not defensive in the least bit. Working in the software industry my self (on the programming side) and having to deal with managers, and sales reps not respecting the consumer really hits a vien. I have come across many attempts/requests come accross my desk from customers that get refused, or rebuked from the manager/sales side because of on ego, or defensive posture taken, without educating themselves first on how difficult a feature would be.

That is the orgin and explaination of my comments...

Plus, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day. ;)

Sincerly,

- Giardino

[insanekiwi]

i don't see any use/sense for suc happs unlike you manage to mess up your desktop or have a small laptop screen.

[OtakuSoftware]

GiardinoSelvaggio: Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry if you got the impression that I was being defensive in my replies to comments - it was never my intention to come across that way, I was merely explaining what the current features of TopDesk were, and why decisions such as the feature-limited trial and the pricing were made. As I said before, I wanted to get feedback, but I feel you get the best feedback when users understand your position :).

Regarding the pricing, the product was priced so that we could guarantee to customers a very high level of updates and support. However, people on the forum felt it was too expensive, so we had to meet price expectations. This is precisely the kind of feedback that I wanted, and it's much appreciated.

I started out as a programmer, and I've experienced many of the same situations you have. As a result, we're completely open to customer requests, and we have an aggressive schedule to implement those requests. For example, TopDesk 1.1, with live updates and window titles, was released 10 days after TopDesk 1.0, and TopDesk 1.2 will be released soon. We're also big on feedback, and are continually adding features to the website to help customers communicate with us (we just added discussion forums, for example).

Like you, I've also been burnt buying software from companies that don't respect users. The trial was actually feature limited out of respect for customers - not having to hide timing or usage information in the registry means we don't do anything underhanded or sneaky, and users are always able to download and evaluate the latest trial version at their leisure. With time and usage limited trials, if you've used up your 100 uses or 7 days on version 1.0, you won't be able test out the new features of version 1.1 onwards (one of our competitors had to do a one time reset of their usage information to get around this problem). In the end, some users will be unhappy about the feature-limited trial, but in the past I seen people go ballistic over the hidden registry entries installed by time-limited software. Limiting features may annoy users, but in my experience it's certainly the lesser evil :).

We carry our respect for customers across to the retail version - there's no copy protection or serial numbers to worry about in TopDesk retail, you simply download, install, and you're up and running. We don't want to inconvenience customers in any way whatsoever, and any anti-piracy measures, easily circumnavigated by pirates, serve only to make it harder for customers.

On a related point, we also respect customers enough to let them make an informed decision about whether to buy TopDesk. We have a policy that if TopDesk doesn't have a feature (e.g. multiple monitors), is incompatible with an application or video card, or needs certain minimum requirements to run comfortably (the minimum requirements of most other software, especially games, are completely misleading), we'll be completely up front about it. It?s better that a user doesn't buy TopDesk because of this, than to neglect to mention this information and have an angry customer that has spent money on an application that doesn't meet their needs.

I've had days when I've woken up on the wrong side of the bed to:):). One of the reasons I posted on a discussion board is that the anonymity allows people to speak their mind - if something about TopDesk has provoked a negative reaction in someone, then it's good that I can see they have an issue, and it's even better if they respond and help me get to the bottom of the proble:):).

[OtakuSoftware]

insanekiwi: Expose-type applications become more and more useful as the number of windows you have open increases.

For example, I usually have around 15-20 windows open, with a lot of them belonging to the same application (Word, Messenger, Acrobat, or Outlook for example). If I'm writing an email and I want to quickly look something in one of the Word documents I have open, it's a lot quicker and easier to just hit "CTRL+Middle Mouse Button" to bring up TopDesk and then click on the thumbnail of the Word document I want, than it is to move through the window z-order to find it, to cycle through applications using ALT-TAB, or to jump into the Word menu in the taskbar and try and identify the document by name.

In these situations, you might only save 5-10 seconds over traditional window switching each time you use an application like TopDesk, but over the course of a working day the time savings soon add up.

[GR7]

hands down to OtakuSoftware. Havent tried the product but received some hard critics and took it well. The only clone i?ve tried is iEx and works kind of good. Doesnt slow down the computers i?ve put it on. Still i think it has to be improved a lot.

I will try your product when i get some tho.

[ev0|]

Winplosion is your best competitor right now. I could never get entbloess to work on my graphics card, so although i've heard it's good, it was the worst for me. One thing that is missing from your software is being able to configure mouse over areas (as far as I can tell) like winplosion. Eliminating the keyboard entirely is more productive.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Winplosion is your best competitor right now. I could never get entbloess to work on my graphics card, so although i've heard it's good, it was the worst for me. One thing that is missing from your software is being able to configure mouse over areas (as far as I can tell) like winplosion. Eliminating the keyboard entirely is more productive.

585016746[/snapback]

I use EntBloess, but I have it bound to my "task switch" button on my MX 1000 mouse.

[mercuryx013]

I almost want to buy this because of OtakuSoftware's willingness to work with consumers. Downloading it now. It's worth $10, if I like it :p

[OtakuSoftware]

silverCORE, mercuryx013: Thanks for the compliment. I'm a user too, and I have the same problems everyone has dealing with software companies, so with the TopDesk project I'm pushing the company to behave as I, as a user, would want a software company to behave.

For every negative response a company receives, there are probably ten users out there who think the same but haven't said anything. I've found that it's more beneficial for everyone if, rather than fighting fire with fire, a company tries to understand what the issue is and resolve it if possible. After all, we're in this together now :).

ev0|: TopDesk currently supports binding to the middle mouse button, but doesn't implement mouse over areas in version 1.1. However, the feature has already been suggested by customers, and will be included in version 1.3, which is due for release in early January (I'd like it to be out sooner, but I'd feel bad if I made my team work over Christmas :)).

[GatorV]

I like it, unfortunately, I don't have a good graphics card, so, I'm waiting for a new card. Apart from that this program looks great, and very cheap in my opinion :D

[OtakuSoftware]

GatorV: The retail version of TopDesk lets you disable the animation, so you don't need a state of the art graphics card to use it. Check out the TopDesk graphics card support page and the TopDesk retail documentation for more information.

Alternatively, theres an Alt-Tab replacement that's part of the free Windows Power Toys suite that'll run fine on older graphics cards. It doesn't have many features, but it's an improvement on the current Alt-Tab switcher.