Get Three Great Windows 7 Features Today (for XP and Vista)!
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August 19th, 2009 written by Sandro Villinger in Windows Insights
Not quite ready to jump on the Windows 7 bandwagon yet? Your XP/Vista machine is perfectly set up, but you still love some of those UI features that Windows 7 boasts? No problem, three great features that help you be more productive and are simply fun made it to Windows XP/Vista PC for free!
AeroSnap: Easier window management
“Aero Snap” in Windows 7 lets you be more productive: Simply grab a window with the cursor and drag it to the right or left edge of your screen. Let the window go and it automatically resizes to 50% of your monitor size. Pulling the window up to the top of your screen will maximize it. Finally, it is MUCH easier to arrange windows, like a browser and a word document, side by side. Go ahead and get this cool feature for XP and Vista, too!
This is how it works:
Download and install the program. Start it and right-click on the new AeroSnap icon in your taskbar. Select “Options.” Make sure you check the “Autostart AeroSnap with Windows” setting, otherwise you will have to start it manually each time. If you have Windows Vista, also click “Enable snap preview,” which enables a nice optical effect when dragging windows to the edges of your screen. Finally, so you never notice AeroSnap, disable the “Show splash screen on startup” setting. Now you’re all set to work more productively with your windows:
One browser and one explorer window
Drag the browser window to the right edge
Release the mouse button. It resizes to exactly 50% of the screen
Drag the Explorer window to the left
Release the mouse button to resize the window to 50% of the left hand side of your screen
Get the Windows 7 Superbar for XP and Vista!
The new taskbar, called “Superbar,” in Windows 7 brings order into chaos and combines the functionality of the quick launch and the task area of the old XP/Vista taskbar. All instances of a program (e.g. Windows explorer, browser, mail) are combined under ONE single icon. ViGlance brings the Superbar to Windows XP and Vista. The only downside is that it does not allow you to pin icons to the taskbar and start them directly, but maybe this will be possible in a future version? Watch the video:
This is how it works:
Download and install the program. It automatically transforms your task area into a Superbar-like taskbar! To automatically run the program, simply drag the “ViGlance OneStep” file into the “Startup” folder of your start menu.
Shake it: Use “AeroShake” to minimize and maximize all your windows at once!
Grab a window in Windows 7 and shake it, which will automatically make all the other windows minimize. Shake it again to maximize all open windows. Let’s get this handy feature for Windows XP and Vista:
This is how it works:
Download and install the program. To automatically run the program, simply drag the “AeroShake.exe” file into the “Startup” folder of your start menu.
To use the feature, click on the title bar of a window and hold the left mouse button. Now “shake” the window a little bit to minimize and maximize the other open windows. It takes a little getting used to, but in the end, you’ll able to work more smoothly with all your windows.
