Maximum Windows: Take Control of Your Desktop with Five Free Apps!

Posted 05/03/2009 at 7:00pm | by David Murphy

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The Windows desktop can do a lot of things. You can drag and drop your programs all across your display, then resize the windows--or have the operating system tile them for you--to maximize your multi-application productivity. If you're using Vista, you can call forth a cascading, three-dimensional display of your Windows and cycle through live displays of each until you're ready to select an active panel. You can create new toolbars and assign them to new edges of the screen. You can minimize everything at once to show you a clean desktop image.

The Windows desktop can do a lot of things. But you can't do everything. And that's why I've hunted down five freeware applications that give you just-that-much-more control over the programs, windows, and taskbars that clog up your PC's display. Split your desktop into individual regions for maximum display control, or take matters into your own hands and assign the customized height, width, and positining of every application you use.

That's just a slice of the Windows pie I'm ready to dish up. Fire up some programs, put on a bib, and let's chow down on some freeware.

MaxTo

What it does: This awesome little application lets you split your screen into a number of regions. From there, whenever you go to maximize a window, it only fills up the size of the region you created. This is an excellent way to keep the use of the "maximum" command on your windows while still maintaining a tiled layout for your desktop. Without it, you would have size and float your windows manually, and would have no way of automatically resizing said windows save for more corner-dragging nonsense. Feh, I say.

Download it here!

Taskbar Shuffle

What it does: Similar to The Superbowl Shuffle, this... okay, it's nothing like the much-lampooned rap song created by the 1985 Chicago Bears. Taskbar Shuffle is still a great application to keep around, because it allows you to move the contents of your taskbars, as well as your tray icons, similar to how you can shuffle around the tabbed windows of your Firefox browser. Why is this program great? Because it helps bring a little more organization and clarity to the contents of your taskbar--a task (tee-hee) that you can't do with normal Windows operating system customizations.

Download it here!

Autosizer

What it does: The name should be pretty self-explanatory on this one. Autosizer will automatically size a given application to whatever parameters you select. Want that Firefox window to always run maximized? You got it. Want your Steam window to shrink down to 100 by 120 pixels? You're crazy, but your dream is not an impossible one. This application is perfect for a power user's desktop, as it even blends window positioning into its crazy configurations. Slap your miniature Steam window into the upper-right corner of your desktop by changing just a few numbers--it's that easy!

Download it here!

Switcher

What it does: Are you a fan of the Exposé feature that Apple builds into its operating systems? Do you even know what I'm talking about? If not, here's a preview: Exposé is analogous to Windows Vista's Aero-based windows switching function (Windows Key + Tab). Only, instead of displaying all of your current windows in a cascading pile, Exposé resizes and tiles these windows for easy finding. They're live screens, so you can see exactly what you're switching to in real-time. It's a great feature of the OSX operating system that, thanks to the freeware application Switcher, is now yours for the taking, Windows users.

Download it here!

KDE Window-Sizer

What it does: Mimic the ability of this good ol' Linux operating system variant using KDE Window-Sizer. With it, you can use a combination of the alt key and your mouse buttons to perform basic movement and resizing commands on the window you're using. Hold down alt and left click anywhere in the window you're using to drag it around your desktop. If you right-click instead, you can resize the window to whichever new dimensions you prefer. And best of all, the application enables window-snapping for the sides of your display. This occurs automatically whenever you move or resize a program!

Download it here!