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Exposé ripoff on Windows

C

cashmoney

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 3, 2005
54
0
o.k, so I have a Powermac G5 and obviously everyone in my dorm/suite hates macs, even after I show off all the cool features like espose. So, I come back from the gym, and my suitemate tells me to come look at his computer. (a gateway desktop). I look and find that he downloaded a program that does the exact features of expose!!! I was like, wtf. :mad: The program was called "topdesk" by the way.
 
Yes, there are Exposé clones for Windows and Linux (KDE anyway). I've never used the Windows one(s), but Kompose for KDE is really not nearly as good as Exposé on OS X. It's just not as convenient or easy to use.
 
Topdesk is actually a very good program. Not as slick as expose but it's the best you can get for a windows desktop. They have just included the flip3d layout that Vista uses which works really well for alt-tab'ing.
 
Even if they do have programs from Windows...where did they get the idea? The Mac! People just try to rip off all the cool features the Mac has and people still hate Macs. I don't get it! I guess it's just ignorance.
 
yeah, I've seen TopDesk before, but never used it myself. It is kind of pointless on the PC anyway, since you have a taskbar on the bottom that has all the Apps. Seriously, how many people that use TopDesk have more than one browser window open...Firefox, lol. But, I don't see myself installing it on my PC since I can use the taskbar just as fast.
 
I used TopDesk here at work. I stopped because it conflicts with Exceed (my X11 windows seem to go all blank whenever I activate TopDesk, and they never showed up properly in the "exposed" view anyway). I miss it though, it was very handy to be able to clear all windows from the desktop with a keypress. (Yes, the button on the taskbar does that, but try pushing that button while you're in the middle of a drag operation...)
 
notjustjay said:
I used TopDesk here at work. I stopped because it conflicts with Exceed (my X11 windows seem to go all blank whenever I activate TopDesk, and they never showed up properly in the "exposed" view anyway). I miss it though, it was very handy to be able to clear all windows from the desktop with a keypress. (Yes, the button on the taskbar does that, but try pushing that button while you're in the middle of a drag operation...)
Click to expand...

Try using Win+D . Press once to bring you back to the desktop, press again to bring everything back. Not as slick as F11 expose but very useful all the same.

EDIT: I have to thank you for asking that question. I never knew you could drag and drop using win+d until i tried out for myself there. Win+d to bring you to desktop, click and drag what you want and while holding it you can win+d everything back and drop it. You can also hover over the minimised application in the task bar and it will pop up after a few seconds.

quigleybc said:
I'm on a PC right now...and if I hold down alt + Tab I can tab between all the stuff that's open...and I don't have any third party apps...

Isn't that the same as Expose ?

Or am I missing something.
Click to expand...

Expose is something totally different. It shrinks all open windows so you can see them all at once and click the one you want. OSX has something similar to alt-tab but expose is something entirely different.

Click here to look at how expose works on the mac.
 
yea, i've seen that program before; no where near as smooth and elegant as expose. but then again, what windows user cares about such things :rolleyes:
 
It's actually quite nice, the TopDesk thing.
I'm a hot-corner exposé user myself. I just installed the trial on my pc and it runs really nice. In fact it works smoother on my PC than exposé does on my Mac. :eek:

Although I must add that there are currently 17 apps running on my 1.42 Ghz mini with 1 GB of RAM. The PC is a 2.5 Ghz Celeron (upgraded due to a MB failure with an 1.4 Ghz Athlon. Getting OT). Sporting an ATI Radeon 9600 with 256 Mb VRAM. Running only 4 apps*. ;)

Nice app, wish it were freeware or default, makes life a lot easier (the windows taskbar really starts to suck once you've got several windows open in several apps).

* including Folding@Home :)
 
I've used this program for a little while. Found out about it on another forum. I use it when I have more than 10 or so windows open. Other than that, it's just more productive/faster to use the taskbar.
 
I'm just surprised that somebody who's in college, with a G5 Power Mac, no less, doesn't know the word "Exposé." :confused:
 
cashmoney said:
I look and find that he downloaded a program that does the exact features of espose!!! I was like, wtf. :mad: The program was called "topdesk" by the way.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but Topdesk isn't free.

And not as elegant.

My dorm, and alot of people I meet, are PC users since I work at my school's IT department. It's pretty crappy. But I'm an art major, and ALL the art majors have Macs. Booyeah.
 
cashmoney said:
o.k, so I have a Powermac G5 and obviously everyone in my dorm/suite hates macs, even after I show off all the cool features like espose. So, I come back from the gym, and my suitemate tells me to come look at his computer. (a gateway desktop). I look and find that he downloaded a program that does the exact features of espose!!! I was like, wtf. :mad: The program was called "topdesk" by the way.
Click to expand...

I know exactly how you feel, and it really S**ts me aswell. My school is 100% windoze oriented, and all my friends think mac is crap. Yet it is hilarious how many of my friends have programs such as 'Windows Blinds' which they often use to make their Win XP look like Mac OS X! Like...how stupid can u get...just get a frickin mac!
 
Topdesk has this lag, even on two 7800 GTs in SLI mode. The lag is annoying.
Even if others clone the functionality, they'll never clone Apple style.
 
After G said:
Topdesk has this lag, even on two 7800 GTs in SLI mode. The lag is annoying.
Even if others clone the functionality, they'll never clone Apple style.
Click to expand...

1 7800GT here. What lag are you talking about? There are setting in the options to adjust. Check it out under performance.
 
I get hardly any lag either on my system. There is a tiny bit of it but if you select the right settings it mostly goes away. Not as slick as Expose and more processor intensive but amazing when you consider that windows is not designed to work this way. Top Desk has to capture each window and then make 3d copies and scale them.
 
Do windows stay 'live' as they're being scaled by TopDesk?

Because of OS X's display compositor, windows such as a Quicktime movie will keep playing as they're manipulated, since they're all being rendered as device-independent surfaces.

The previous Exposé homages I've seen on Windows effectively 'snapshot' the window before doing their thing.
 
wow, my suitemate is NOW looking for the "genie effect" on windows....o.k, this is really pissing me off.:mad:
 
cashmoney said:
wow, my suitemate is NOW looking for the "genie effect" on windows....o.k, this is really pissing me off.:mad:
Click to expand...

Why get worked up? There are more important things in life to worry about.
 
cashmoney said:
wow, my suitemate is NOW looking for the "genie effect" on windows....o.k, this is really pissing me off.:mad:
Click to expand...

you're a lucky git if that's all you've got to worry about. or are you one of the mac users who uses it to gloat at everyone about how different you are? if so, carry on, i guess.

also, there's another exposé clone called Entbloess. used it when i was a PC user, and it's ok...but as has been said, why bother when you have a taskbar?
 
shrimpdesign said:
Yeah, but Topdesk isn't free.

And not as elegant.

My dorm, and alot of people I meet, are PC users since I work at my school's IT department. It's pretty crappy. But I'm an art major, and ALL the art majors have Macs. Booyeah.
Click to expand...

Given the platform it's running on (Windows pre-Vista) it's a hell of an achievement.

Sure it's not as good, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing....
 
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