Windows 7: Choosing a Multiple Desktop Program

One advantage of using two computers was that I could get stuck at a certain point, for whatever reason due to the computer's imperfections or my own, and just switch right over to the other machine for a while.  I suspected that this advantage could be multiplied by effective use of multiple desktop software.  This post describes my early Windows 7 efforts along those lines.

I had used multiple desktops in Ubuntu, where that feature was part of the standard package.  I had previously looked into multiple desktop software for Windows as well, particularly VirtuaWin, as a portable solution.  (Portables, at their best, could be incorporated into my network-shared, customized Start Menu, all of which could be copied onto a USB drive.)  My question, at this point, was whether Windows 7 supported good software, preferably but not necessarily free, that would give me multiple desktops.

In Ubuntu-land, I had used virtual machines (VMs) to encapsulate a whole workspace.  In one VM, I might have several different kinds of documents and utilities open, all pertaining to the project underway there.  Projects could take a long time, and could entail many interruptions.  Being able to zip all of that up into one pod was helpful for keeping multiple projects organized and ready to resume.  This, especially, was what I would ideally get from Win7 workspaces, though admittedly this went beyond what I had experienced in the desktops of Ubuntu itself (as distinct from VMware, running on Ubuntu).

(By the way, if you're reading these posts, please feel free to add a note now and then.  A bit of encouragement, commentary, or even constructive criticism enhances the sense that some find this effort helpful.)

After some searching around, it seemed that the multiple desktop solutions I was hearing most about were Dexpot, VirtuaWin, and Microsoft's Sysinternals Desktops, probably in that order.  A search led to a site agreeing with Dexpot as No. 1, but suggesting that maybe Virtual Dimension belonged in the top three or four.  Another site nominated Micro Desk as one of the best.  CNET did not concur, however.  I liked that Dexpot would allow me to create up to 20 desktops.  I had previous positive experience with other Sysinternals software.  I found a decent video of Dexpot.  It seemed to show largely superficial features, but it did look good.

I went to Dexpot's webpage.  I saw that, in their support area, they did have a forum and an FAQs page.  On their download page, I noticed that they did have a portable version.  I downloaded the installable version and began to play with it, as described in a separate post.