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I Love this Free Desktop Extender
Have you ever stared in envy at people who have multiple monitors on their desktop PC, and wished you had enough money (and desk space!) to allow such a setup? If you like the idea of multiple monitors but you don't have the space or money to implement it for real, then take a look at this great desktop extender application for Windows.
The program is called GiMeSpace (give me space!), and you can download it from various sites including:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/GiMeSpace-Free-Edition.shtml.
It runs under Windows XP and above, and is completely free. The download is around 500 KB.
In use, the program is pretty simple. Sadly, it won't actually give you any more screens, or make your desk larger, but it's still pretty handy. Once the software is installed, moving your mouse to the right or left hand side of the screen causes the desktop to scroll sideways, revealing more space to open new windows. And that's about it! Very simple, and surprisingly useful. It means, for example, that you can have lots of programs open in full-screen mode, and just scroll sideways to access them. It's almost like having multiple side-by-side monitors.
If you need to turn off the scrolling feature temporarily, just press the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard. Or to close the program entirely, right-click the GiMeSpace icon in the taskbar and choose Exit.
Thanks to user LauraBrags for telling me about this great utility. If there's a Hot Find you want to share, please let me know via http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/submit-product-review.htm.
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Comments
by Anonymous on 15. June 2010:
how did you get rid of BSOD ??? I have got the same problem: installing Dexpot and BSOD after restart...
HELP PLEASE !!!!
I've not tried any of the alternate desktop extenders mentioned in the reviews, but GiMeSpace loaded easily to my computer (64 bit), I've had no trouble with it, it has 'lopped' off nothing and the icon sits prettily on my taskbar - so far, so good. I find it handy for my purposes and, yes, it's 'fun'. I suppose it's all a matter of preference, so for the time being, this program has met all the claims provided. I will keep it until such time that it starts barking, spitting out 8 track tapes, or some other catastrophe. As a precaution when installing any new program, be sure your files are being backed up!!! (you knew that).
OK, someone enlighten me here before I download and install this or any others that have been suggested.
If I don't have another monitor, why would I want a virtual one? What's the advantage? I'm thinking, to get to your virtual monitor, you put your mouse either to the left or right. Currently, for me to get to another full-screen app, I just click on my task bar or hit Alt-Tab. So I'm not saving any mouse clicks or gestures or keyboard strokes or time, really.
So other than it being "eye candy" or "fun," why should anyone have this?
The word is "virtual desktop" and Linux has it for decades already...
It was kind of jerky in my hands, but I learned a lot about extenders and separate workspaces from the blog and CNET. Larry
I thought Microsoft already has something called Virtual Desktop Manager?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
I would have liked to see the home page listed, rather than one of many links to download from and have to search around there to find the way to the home page.
http://sites.google.com/site/gimespace/
Thanks anyway
You guys aware of the free nView and HydraVision apps which come with nVidia and ATI graphics cards? I used nView for years, it has bucketloads of options, features and choices beyond any of the software solutions.
No version of nVidia - nVieuw offers this handy trick what this utility.I tried it out on Win 7 64 bit, it's O.K, it works nicely also
on two monitors.Only little problem, it moves as well the the Win-Gadget "Clock" witch has to be placed again, if you quit
the programm. I'm happy to have it.
Nview Desktop Manager is ONLY COMPATIBLE with the NVidia Quadro Cards in Windows 7
Hydravision only works on ATI products - not NVidia
is there much of a performance hit? i use a netbook...
I too was sold on multiple desktops by linux. I too found Dexpot to do the same thing for Windoze.
I agree with the comment on Ubuntu, although this is not exclusive to Ubuntu, Gnome and KDE and XFCE linux desktop environments all support virtual desktops. Its so convenient I cannot believe windows and mac have not followed suits ages ago.
I've tried some of the others and I keep coming back to Dexpot.
http://dexpot.de/index.php?id=home
It's rich in features, easy to use and customizable.
I found this a dangerous application. After I installed it, I got a Blue Screen of Death om my Vista system. I don't think this application is ready for prime time.
Works like a charm on Win 7 32 bit. I like it!
Can't you use the screen settings to achieve this in a normal (I use XP) setup? So the desktop is bigger than the screen and moving the mouse scrolls the screen...
Within the Powertools there's a tool that creates four desktop spaces (as known from Linux Installations...)
So I am not sure if it's necessary to install another program...
Problem is, your start menu, system tray, and other parts are usually cropped off if you do that. This one doesn't touch your taskbar or desktop icons.
Nice, just may be what I need. Too forgetful with Virtual Desktops.
Also it does install in Windows 7 64-bit if you run it as admin.
Edit:
It runs fine, but the implementation is a bit messy when dealing with multiple monitors of different resolutions. The maximized window on my 24-inch is cut off as it "extends" to my 8-inch usb monitor lol.
Also doesn't work well with a few of my desktop gadgets, which it moves around. Doesn't move the desktop icons and taskbar though.
It's a nice program, but not for this computer.
If you like this program, you may also be interested in a program called 360desktop. Its available from the following site.
http://www.360desktop.com/
This program has been around for a while now. Its free, and supports XP, Vista, and W7, Its also available in 32bit and 64bit flavors. The download file is just over 8MB.
As its name implies, it actually turns your desktop into a completely circular work space. How cool is that?
Also available to download from the same site are a considerable amount of custom wallpapers in a wide variety of subject matter specifically for the program. Check it out
360Desktop has a big impact on the performance of your system and takes a lot of resources. GiMeSpace doesn't seem to have that problem.
Avira showed this as having a malware trojan
Can't install in Win 7 x64. For 32 bit only I think, but it does not say.
It does install, if you run it as admin, as JL has commented above :-)
Interesting, I'm actually using Deskpot at the moment to give me unix/linux like virtual desktops which I find better for partitioning screens by function. e.g. Fullscreen VM in one desktop, browser in another etc. I would also give the likes of Deskpot, Virtual Dimension and VirtuaWin a look if you are after more space (I have used the latter two with multiple monitors at my work place).
One thing I like is the availability of workspaces in Ubuntu. By default it has four workspaces and switching among them is fast and intuitive. It seems to work better than GiMeSpace for Windows in my opinion.