Dexpot Forum

Hello!

I have benn using virutal desktops under Linux for a few years and missed it under Windows, but finally found Dexpot, and found out that it's a really nice tool.

But I have a few problems with it:

- after switching to another desktop, and going back, the active window ofter changes. Often, the item highlighted in taskbar is correct, but the active window is a different one (looks like it gets active but later is covered byt other one)
- the sequence of windows in taskbar changes, too
- some windows start to apear on another (second one) desktop after switching to it

The problems indicated are most often when using Firefox or Thunderbird.
I have Athlon XP 3500+ and Windows XP SP2.

And a small feature request... Please, implement also "focus-follows-mouse" beahvior for windows. I know that MS have doe this, but incorrectly beacuse not only focus follows mouse but also windows are put to foreground when got focus, what makes it completely unusable. I know that it's not related to virtual desktops, but rater to Unix-like feel, but I find the feature very useable.

Thanks,
Filip

filon wrote:Hello!

- some windows start to apear on another (second one) desktop after switching to it

Easiest way to reproduce it is to start for example Firefox and keep hotkey for switching to next desktop pressed for a few seconds. After that, the window resides on all (or most of them) desktops.

Nmorgen Filip.

filon wrote:after switching to another desktop, and going back, the active window ofter changes.

That very much depends on thy system environment and the applications you are running. But we are aware of the fact that when it happens, it's a really annoying problem. We'll try to fix it in the next version.

the sequence of windows in taskbar changes, too

This is Windows XP specific. There already is a considerable amount of code doing its best to prevent it, but Microsoft is quite good at making it impossible to ultimately solve the problem...

Please, implement also "focus-follows-mouse" beahvior for windows. [...] I know that it's not related to virtual desktops

Exactly. It's not related in any way to the purpose of our software...

Patrick wrote:Nmorgen Filip.

filon wrote:after switching to another desktop, and going back, the active window ofter changes.

That very much depends on thy system environment and the applications you are running. But we are aware of the fact that when it happens, it's a really annoying problem. We'll try to fix it in the next version.

Thanks, and good luck in fixing that.

Patrick wrote:

the sequence of windows in taskbar changes, too

This is Windows XP specific. There already is a considerable amount of code doing its best to prevent it, but Microsoft is quite good at making it impossible to ultimately solve the problem...

Yeah, even Microsoft VDM has that problem.

Patrick wrote:

Please, implement also "focus-follows-mouse" beahvior for windows. [...] I know that it's not related to virtual desktops

Exactly. It's not related in any way to the purpose of our software...

I Linux world both managing desktops and managing windows (including changing focus, minimizing, maximizing etc) are the functions of the same applications - window managers. So, it could be actually included in the purpose of Dexpot if it's taken as Windows equivalent of those.

(just in case, I'm not insisiting on that feature, but only describing my motivation for applying for it)

Anyway, thanks for great app.
Filip

Hello.

Can you please tell me how to solve the problem?

Thanx.

"some windows start to apear on another (second one) desktop after switching to it "

That´s what annoys me the most. I frequently use several (and I mean several) excel files, each one in a different window (but the same excel.exe). I think this aplies as "subortinate windows".

I try to separate this many files in different desktops, as they refer to different matters, but they keep showing in more than one desktop.

REALLY anoying.

Muniz wrote:"some windows start to apear on another (second one) desktop after switching to it "

That´s what annoys me the most. I frequently use several (and I mean several) excel files, each one in a different window (but the same excel.exe). I think this aplies as "subortinate windows".

I try to separate this many files in different desktops, as they refer to different matters, but they keep showing in more than one desktop.

REALLY anoying.

Yes, this is an horrible thing (common to other desktop programs, like PowerTray). It seems like:

-The multi-desktop application is not able to completely separate, in different desktops, windows referring the same executable. As I have seen, this happens to all executables (except WinWord.exe, but this program sometimes freezes when using that way). After the chaos has been started, trying to manually move this windows one desktop to another (using the Dexpot funcionality) is usually impossible (except firefox.exe, as I have seen).

-The separation fails also when executing database querys in Access or programs in Visual Basic.

-Dexpot can't make completely independent desktops, because windows associated to the same executable and executing programs tend to invade other desktops.

The situation will be more clear with some examples.

1-Immagine 6 empty desktops. You are in the first one. With an explorer.exe you search for an excel file you want to open. Doble click and an excel application starts with the file1. All Ok. You minimize the excel window (*). Now you switch to desktop 2. You want to open there an excel file2, so you use another explorer.exe to search it. Doble click and... it starts to happen. The file1 you have already opened in the first desktop comes to desktop 2. When you switch to desktop 1 the file1 isn't there anymore. If you try now to open in desktop 1 an excel file3 using the same proceadure, the new file is opened but, with it, a file from desktop 2 comes to desktop 1. If you switch then to desktop 2 there you will see the 3 files. So as a result of the process, not only some files have been moved to one desktop to another, but 2 of them also appear dupplicated. If you try to move the files to their original starting desktop (using the Dexpot funcionality), you can't.
(*: if you don't minimize that window, an alternative thing happens when opening file2 in desktop 2, the file2 will be duplicated in desktop 1).

2-Immagine 6 empty desktops. You are in the first one. You search for an excel file and you open it. Switch to desktop 2. There you want to open another excel file but, aware from the example 1 fatal experience, you manually start an excel program first. After that, doble click to the second file and... everything goes ok, the file opens in the new excel.exe program, in desktop 2, and if you switch to desktop 1 you find just the file you opened there.

3-You can repeat the 1,2 examples with PDF files and an adobe acrobat reader instead of excel files and excel program.

4-Immagine 6 empty desktops. You are in the first one. Open a firefox window. You go to desktop 2 and, there, you star outlook to read a mail with an URL in it. Doble click to that URL. The firefox from desktop 1 comes to desktop 2 to search for the URL. All in all, firefox behaviour is "cleaner" than excel, it comes to desktop 2 but completely, not duplicated, and you can then move that window to any desktop without problems.

5-The example 1 cannot be reproduced using word, it usually works well, but I have seen that, after using that way, sometimes the word windows freeze and it must be terminated with the tasks manager.

6-Immagine 6 empty desktops. You are in the first one. You open an access program wich makes a database query and you start that query, wich takes a long. In the meantime you want to make some work in desktop 2, so you switch to it. After doing that, the access window duplicates it's presence to desktop 2, and stays there and in desktop 1 also after the query.

7-Something analog to example 5 happens with Visual Basic programs when executed.


Davide.

filon wrote:And a small feature request... Please, implement also "focus-follows-mouse" beahvior for windows. I know that MS have doe this, but incorrectly beacuse not only focus follows mouse but also windows are put to foreground when got focus, what makes it completely unusable. I know that it's not related to virtual desktops, but rater to Unix-like feel, but I find the feature very useable.

I missed this feature also. I used tweakui until I started using Vista x64 system, which does not support tweakui. Fortunately I found a tool to implement the feature for Windows Vista and 7 as well. It is located here:

http://joelpurra.se/Projects/X-Mouse_Controls/

It is a small program and easy to use. It merely makes the appropriate registry entries to to implement the features you want. It allows control of window tracking, raising, and delay. I too prefer that the window not be raised unless I click on it.

I hope this helps.