Multitasking The Problem No matter how powerful the operating system, multitasking is only as good as the user interface. Because to multitask requires more than just having multiple programs running; it requires the ability to switch easily among those programs. So the initial idea behinds "windows" was to have many programs open concurrently, maybe even viewable at the same time. While there is a maximize button, I think a lot of people run each program pretty full-screen, offset from one another, but not maximized. This allows maximum working area in each program, and the ability to click on the window of another program to switch to it. Which a lot of us have managed to get used to, although there are problems inherent in this design: the window in need might be behind another window, or even worse, sometimes the only area of a window that's viewable is the "Close" button, so if you click that window, you might close the program! Hence, we have the Task Bar which we can use to bring a window into focus. Furthermore, NT provides Cool Switching, which is a dialog box for keyboard switching using the key combination ALT-TAB. Go To: Multiple Desktops Using the Taskbar Alt-Tabbing

Multiple Desktops Your monitor size and display resolution also play a part in how well you can switch among your running applications, of course. However, those with less desktop "real estate" can fake it using a "virtual desktop". Basically, all this type of program does is give you many screens on which to work. Getting used to virtual desktops can be trying, however: you can have only one instance of Task Bar running, and in programs that allow only one instance, you might get "lost" trying to find a file you just opened if the application is already open on a different virtual screen. However, there are different types of virtual desktops. I especially like ones that simply allow you to move around your screen as if it were a little bigger, like 1600 pixels wide instead of 1024 pixels wide. And if it has a "magnify"-type of function, where you can zoom in and out of the desktop without having to switch desktops entirely, that's wonderful. So at the sidebar, I list a handful of freeware virtual desktops to try. However, you may find they're more trouble than they're worth: it really depends on how you work and the program you try out, so try a few before giving up.   Virtual Desktop Managers New (12/98) is XDesk, available both in a freeware and a shareware version, and both being top-notch, small-footprint utilities designed on the NT platform, with NT-only features. There are three virtual desktop programs included in the NT Resource Kit: Desktops (MultiDesk), a desktop switcher which uses a TaskBar-like toolbar for switching among desktops; Top Desk VDesk, another desktop switcher with an added boon: it allows you to log on to a different account on your other desktops. Furthermore, PC Magazine has a free utility (released August 1997) called ZDDesk for Windows 95 and NT 4 that beats the Resource Kit virtual desktops hands down.

The Task Bar The Task Bar is the main "task switcher" (multitasker) in the NT 4.0 interface. You can use Task Manager, of course, and ALT-TAB, to switch between programs, and you can use a single application to switch among files, but more than likely the Task Bar gets the most use. There are some big problems with Task Bar, though, the first being that you can't reorder the icons: it's first come, first serve (the programs are listed in the order they're opened). Also, the "icons" are not resizable, so you can't easily determine the filename loaded into the application. You can float your mouse pointer over the icon to eventually get a tooltip that will tell you the filename loaded in the application. Another solution is a freeware shell extension called "WindowLister", which is an icon that resides in your System Tray, and which clicked, shows you a listing of your active programs (you select one to switch to it), as well as allows you to manage them (for example, you can "minimize all"). As a matter of fact, about all you can do with the Task Bar is move and resize it -- you can't customize the icons at all! In my extensive search for a fix, I've found little besides entire Explorer replacements, which seems quite overkill if you don't mind the interface on the whole.   Alt-Tabbing I rarely use ALT-TAB to switch amongst my running tasks since the Task Bar is right there. However, if you close explorer.exe to regain memory or to use a different shell, ALT-TAB comes in very handy! You get a modal dialog showing icons that you can tab between, as shown below. You can resize the grid of the dialog from 7x3 (the default) to any other size by adjusting the following registry entries: hkey users/{id}/controlpanel/desktop/CoolSwitchColumns=7 hkey users/{id}/controlpanel/desktop/CoolSwitchRows=3 Notice that the part of the registry we're dealing with here is Desktop properties Appearance settings. In case you haven't noticed, there's no longer a way to turn "Cool Switching" on and off using the Display control panel applet (or any other applet in the Control Panel). Although there's a Registry setting here that looks like it would turn off Cool Switch, it's useless: Cool Switch is built into NT4 now. hkey users/{id}/controlpanel/desktop/CoolSwitch=1 Other Settings @ hkey users/{id}/controlpanel/desktop/ Since we're here, there are a few other settings that are interesting: AutoEndTasks, which if set to 1 will automatically close running apps when you shut down. It will also kill that "Wait" dialog you get when you try to end a task that's "busy". The default setting is 0. HungAppTimeout lets you specify how much time (in milliseconds) you'll give an app to get it's stuff together before it's forcibly ended. Default is 5000 ms = 5 seconds. MenuShowDelay, which specifies in milliseconds how fast (or slow) you cascading menus will appear. Mine is set at 200ms, which is pretty fast. Default is 400 ms. WaitToKillApp Timeout, which specifies in milliseconds how long the system will wait at shutdown before asking you to end a running task. Default is 20000 ms. Of course, AutoEndTasks set to 1 overrides this, but if you choose not to AutoEndTasks, you might set this time down some so shutdown might appear quicker. 20,000 milliseconds! Geez!   Reorder Task Bar Icons Reorder 1.0 (28kb EXE) is a command line utility that allows you to reorder the icons on your taskbar by specifying their positions. The only caveat, really, is that the numbering starts at 0, so your first icon is 0, your second icon is 1, and so forth. reorder 3 2 would move the fourth icon to first place, the third icon to second place, and leave the remaining icons in their current order. However, you can also use part of the icon name (like "Inbox"), case insensitive, to move that icon to the first position: reorder inbox And you can remove icons entirely using the minus sign in front of the number or name: reorder -inbox