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Windows Vista ships with a nice window switcher by the name of Flip-3D for quickly moving between windows, but it's not without its drawbacks. For one thing, if you have a lot of windows stacked together it can be hard to tell which is which, with that in mind we decided to take a look at some alternatives.
I should note upfront that to use the built-in Flip 3D feature you'll need to have a version of Vista that has Aero enabled (and obviously the necessary hardware as well).
One possible alternative to Flip 3D is [SmartFlip][2] (download requires forum registration) which is essentially the exact same thing as Flip-3D, but it moves the windows in a circle so it's easier to tell them apart. SmartFlip has a number of configuration option that let you show off Vista's graphical eye candy by slowing window switching or changing transparency.
Rather than trying to explain all the features in detail I've embedded the developer's nice video demo at the end of the post.
The other app that gets some good marks around the web is [My Exposé][1], which, as its name implies, mimics the functions of OS X's Expose. As with the original OS X app you can set hot-keys or corner activation or both. Activating My Exposé overlays your desktop with a black background and scales windows so they all fit on the screen.
I had some problems with the latest version of My Exposé generating error messages, but an earlier version worked just fine.
Of course neither of this has to replace the stock window switcher, you could use all three in conjunction if you wanted -- just make sure to assign each on a different hot-key combo. For my money Vista's enhanced Alt-Tab with previews does the job quite well, but if 3D window navigation is more your cup of tea you have plenty of options.
Stock Flip-3D:
SmartFlip:
My Exposé:
SmartFlip developer demo movie:
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[1]: http://blogs.labo-dotnet.com/simon/archive/2006/11/08/11485.aspx "My Exposé"
[2]: http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=529816&st=0 "SmartFlip"
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