flip3d and other windows ideas

[NewsBot]

I was playing with Flip 3D and thinking of ways it could be improved to be more useful, by giving the user actual useful features instead of just a 3d effect. However that led me to think of other ideas that can applied to Windows generally.

 

I started thinking that as you flip through windows, the sounds from the application you have selected are at normal volume, and sounds from other applications are at low, background volumes; so the most audible app is the one selected.

 

And given that, what 'mute when app is in background' option in the volume mixer, so that an application only plays sounds when you have the window in front?

 

Could that also be applied in some way to managing windows in general? Right now, the Taskbar has a command "Show Desktop" which alternatively is "Show Open Windows". What if there were a similar command to "Show Top Window Only". Sure, if its something just on the taskbar menu most users would not access it. But what if there were a tray icon to click and manage windows? Or, setting a mouse button to call this function. So click the middle mouse button, and all other windows disappear, click it again, and they show up.

 

That got me to thinking, and I set my side mouse button to Windows+Space, to show the taskbar. Wow, a nice alternative to auto-hide.

 

(and why not be able to 'pin' the taskbar with a pin button, so you can have stick it on top temporarily, or change the on-top status with a single click ? )

At any rate, if the Windows team ever gets around to program windows groups on the taskbar, you could do "Show Group Only" as well.

 

Ideally, btw, I think you should be able to use something like Flip3d to drag things between windows. Normally if you have a lot of windows open it can be a mess, but flip3d or expose are ways to temporarily arrange them, which can be beneficial in interacting with two windows.

 

 

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