Windows 10: Windows 10 Virtual Desktop and Mouse options

I haven’t used a Windows PC in years but think I’m about to switch back because of Apple’s draconian control over hard disk and RAM upgrades on computers with Retina displays. I love the Mac’s interface and I hate to go back to Windows, but sometimes you’ve got to make difficult choices. Besides, Windows 10 looks like a pretty decent OS

I do have three questions about Windows 10, however:

• Is there a mouse for Windows that allows customizable gestures, both swiping and clicking, that you find in Mac computers? One that will allow you to change virtual desktops simply by swiping the back of the mouse in the direction you want to go?
• Is there a third-party add-on that will allow you to have different background images on different virtual desktops? On the Mac all your virtual desktops can have their own background images, which helps distinguish the one you’re looking at from others. And on the Mac getting from one virtual desktop to another, after configuration, is simply a matter of swiping left or right with two fingers.
• Years ago--in the days of Windows XP--you could count on a PC getting slower and slower and slower as time went by because apps loaded things to start up you didn't know were loaded and Internet sites did the same. The registry would get out of whack and before you knew it you had a computer that could hard function. Maintenance could require quite a lot of time. Has this problem improved since ten years ago or so?

These may seem like insignificant quibbles but for me they are important components of the Mac’s user interface. That and an SSD drive produce a computer I love like no other before it, so I’d like to replicate that interaction as closely as possible on a PC.

:)

 

No virtual desktops in Tablet mode?

I'm a fan of convertible laptops and I've wanted virtual desktops in tablet mode since Windows 10 beta builds, but still no dice (admittedly there have to be other priorities inside Microsoft like getting Windows 10 stable - I still have to "reboot to fix
it" regularly even on 1st party Surface hardware).

I understand having apps on other virtual desktops when in tablet mode could be confusing to newbies, but they probably never create additional desktops to begin with. The UX for managing virtual desktops via touch is already there (it's actually easier
to use touch to create desktops and move apps between them than keyboard/mouse), so I don't understand why there would be any significant resistance to add an option to enable virtual desktops in tablet mode.

 

How to open app on another virtual desktop?

Hi Radim,



I realize the inconvenience you are experiencing with Windows 10. I will certainly help you.



This issue might occur if virtual desktop or task view option is not enabled.



I suggest you to follow the steps below to enable virtual desktop on the computer.

The virtual desktops feature in Windows 10 is known as “Task View” and is located on the Taskbar. Clicking the “Task View” button brings up the Task View interface, where you can see your open windows on virtual desktops which you have added.

To enable task view option on the taskbar.



1. Right click on Taskbar.

2. Click on Show task view button.

3. Then it will be available on the task bar next to the Search bar.

Please get back to us with an update on issue with using virtual desktop, we will be happy to help.



Thank you.

 

Hi,
1. Sorry, don't know..

2. Not as far as I've seen. Comments on this area is that 3rd part solutions for virtual desktops such as DEXPOT offer more.
See towards the end:
Windows 10: Different Backgrounds for virtual desktops - ServerQuestions.com

3. This isn't an issue I've significantly experienced- and
a. I have a lot of programs installed.
b. I don't clean the registry
c. I've used Windows from '98 on.

Some things you will find frustrating are:
- the relative fragility of newer Win 10 features a number experience.
- the way MS takes months to fix some issues they introduce
- the appearance (which offers less flexibility than Win 7 and older).
- a Win 10 start menu which I regard as inherently broken as it can't properly represent a 'normal' folder-based hierarchical start menu structure on the LHS (Classic Shell recommended - or other replacement).

 

Well, thanks for that. It doesn't sound like there will be a very good solution for those issues, but I'll check out DEXPOT to see what it offers. In past years you could tweak the hardware in a Mac and Macbook Pros a little bit. Now, however, you have to buy everything you want up front preinstalled by the factory. That means that the computer(s) I would want--a laptop and desktop--would cost about $6k, but I can get a Dell Precision laptop with a docking station and a 27" monitor and retrofit the laptop with a 1 TB SSD for just a little less than $2500, less than half the cost of the Macs. I grew to love the Mac's user interface and still do but I'm only willing to pay so much for it. Plus, when I used PCs I grew to be fairly knowledgeable by necessity about how to manage them. On a Mac I have lost all knowledge because most of the time the thing just works and I don't need to know how to fix it. Most of the time.

 

I just checked out DEXPOT. Doesn't seem to be a very elegant solution, so I'll probably just live with Windows the way it is. I'd rather do that than spend an extra $3500 so I can have two Macs. This is, after all, a secondary computer, not my primary one. When my 2011 iMac finally goes kaput, I'll figure out my next move at that point.

 

There are several other virtual desktop offerings around- you may find one to suit.

When you start using Windows, make sure you also start using disk imaging routinely...! May save your PC, your time your data and your sanity. Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free/commercial) + its boot medium + external storage. 3rd party is better than Windows' System Image.

 

Will do that. I do it with my Mac sometimes, but mostly on my Mac I rely on Time Machine for interval backups.