If you are anything like me, then you have a number of applications open continuously all day. I like desktop real estate, and dislike seeing a number of windows cluttering my taskbar. VirtuaWin is a sourceforge project that will help remedy situations like this.

From my first experiences with Linux, I have always thought their concept of the desktop manager, or desktop dashboard was cool and something every computer should have. The desktop manager is a way to organize your applications on several desktops. VirtuaWin is an application that will provides similar effects, allowing users to have up to 9 virtual desktops. I prefer VirtuaWin over Microsoft’s Virtual Desktop Manager and other tools because it is lightweight, easy to use, and switches between desktops quickly without displaying “fancy graphics.”

Now I can group my development applications on one desktop, Outlook and non-development on another, and whatever else on other desktops. I typically run four desktops, select short-cut keys for each, and rarely ever use all four. To ability to bounce from one desktop to another is painless and now my task bar is less congested.