Deskcom adds a new dimension to the way you used to manage your Windows desktop. This free little tool is an excellent alternative or – and that’s for you to decide – a useful companion to the Start button in Windows 7 or the massive list of programs displayed by the new Windows 8 desktop. Deskcom provides you with a tiny menu strip for you to organize all your apps and tools and keep them handy at all times.
The newest versions of the Windows OS allow you to anchor your favorite or most commonly used apps to the task bar, and that new feature, useful as it is, is limited to the length of your monitor and provides no room for classifying or organizing all those icons in a meaningful way. Deskcom offers you a number of drop-down menus where you can mix the most commonly used Windows applications (Explorer, Notepad, Paint, Calculator, or the Control Panel) with your own choice of non-Windows tools. The main difference is that with Deskcom you will always know where to find your favorite tools without browsing endless rows of icons or apps in alphabetical order.
Though visually much more attractive than its predecessors, I find the desktop in the new Windows 8 OS a step backwards in terms of usability. The Start button in the previous version was a much better option to access all those little Windows utilities in a breeze, and Deskcom offers you a similar level of usability in its “General” menu option. It covers the program’s settings plus the above-mentioned list of Windows utilities. Here you can define how you want Deskcom to behave and have direct access to the Control Panel or the Notepad. The “Applications” menu is where you can list all your favorite tools and have them handy without moving around your desktop looking for the right icon. Alternatively, if you wish to launch an app directly, you can click on the “Run” option and paste there the path to the corresponding executable file.
“Multiwindows” will allow you to arrange your open windows in the most efficient way. You can “split” your desktop into two, three, or four sections, and arrange your workspace in the most convenient way – you won’t need to close or minimize all those overlapping windows or look down at the task bar looking for the right icon in order to move from one window to the next.
To complement these useful sections, Deskcom offers you a number of other utilities to make your life easier, such as Quick Note, Screenshot, or Music Player. As a bonus, Deskcom offers you a couple of nice “cursor effects” to make your mouse look different and much more stylish.
Deskcom will help you keep a less cluttered desktop while offering you the possibility of having all your apps and utilities neatly organized in an elegant and discreet menu strip at the top of your screen. Though advertised as an “essential companion for your Windows”, this simple utility has actually freed me up from my Windows instead. If, like me, you tend to use the same set of apps and tools when at your PC, you will find this clever free utility the perfect alternative to the maze into which we tend to turn our Windows desktop.
Comments