Switch between applications quickly with Apple’s Exposé function

When you fl ick the cursor to a specifi c
corner of the monitor, Exposé shows
thumbnails of all active programs
minimised on the desktop. You
can then quickly switch to another
application – but only on Mac OS X.



The tool SmallWindows equips
Windows with the practical Exposé
functionality of Mac OS X. SmallWindows
has two functions: It either minimizes
all windows so that it is easy to toggle
between applications, or it moves all
windows to the screen border so that you
get a free view of the desktop. You can
download it from http://smallwindows.
sourceforge.net. A wizard guides you
through the setup. Under Vista and
Windows 7, you need to authorize the
installation by selecting a user account
with administrator rights and entering the
relevant password if needed.
At the time of the fi rst start, confi gure
the program asks whether Windows
should automatically load it during
startup so that it is at your disposal
immediately, so confi rm the query
with ‘Yes’. After the start, a new icon
is displayed in the system notifi cation
area. Right click it and select the context

Add the cool Exposé feature to Windows XP with

this simple free tool

command ‘Settings’ to open the dialog
box for confi guring the application.
Here you can also deactivate the
automatic start during system start by
removing the checkmark on ‘Start when
Windows starts’.
The hot zones are the four corners of
the desktop via which you can activate
SmallWindows. For every hot zone,
defi ne a reaction using the relevant fi eld.
In case of all ‘All’, Windows displays all
the open programs in one minimized
view. You can select a program with
just a click and bring it into foreground.
You can deactivate the function with
‘None’. ‘Desktop’ moves all windows to
the screen border and gives a free view
of the desktop. ‘Related’ minimizes the
current program. This function is however
of no use otherwise. In addition to fl icking
the mouse, you can also defi ne key
combinations for individual functions via
‘Hotkey Activation’.