Ever had that problem when you’ve got loads of programs open at one time – so many that you can’t remember which one you need to be using?

Here’s a solution – its called VirtuaWin. It means you can basically have more than one desktop running at one time. It’s actually very similar to a system in Linux which allows you to run multiple desktops, but it looks like somebody wanted to have this ability in Windows.

Anyway, it runs on most versions of Windows (although its a little bit buggy in Windows 7 at this time – the site doesn’t claim it works in Windows 7 anyway) and installation is very simple.

Once you’ve got it set up, it’ll start you off with four desktops. If you want more than that you simply double click the icon in the notification area (a green window like icon with one yellow square). and play with the desktop configuration (see here).

To switch desktops, you can simply use the hotkeys automatically assigned by the program. Use the Winkey (windows logo key on your keyboard) and whatever letter that corresponds. For example, to go to the desktop on the left, simply do Winkey + L. For right, Winkey + R. To go down a dekstop its Winkey + D, and to go up a desktop its Winkey + U. You can customize these hotkeys in the configuration (see here).

It’s actually a very handy program if you use lots of programs at one time. Once you’ve used it, you’ll see why it is so useful.

If you’d like to try it, you can get it free from the official VirtuaWin sourceforge page.