Two windows active at once?



  •  Wow, Microsoft. I didn't know I could have 2 programs active at once!



  • Yes. You can use CTRL+click to select multiple taskbar buttons like in filelists. As you appear to have done here (caption on taskbar button for active window is bolded IIRC). Then you right click and can do stuff like "Close group".



  • Okay, I joined just to reply to this. It's ctrl-click, and it's used for grouping windows. If you right click one of the buttons, you get a group menu. You'll find that it happens every time. 



  • Mug mug mug mug, mug mug mug mug, mug mug mug mug..... 



  •  trwtf is that i never knew about that... might be handy some day.  or not.



  • @Eternal Density said:

     trwtf is that i never knew about that... might be handy some day.  or not.

    Select two or more windows, right click on them and chose "tile horizontally/vertically".

    That function alone makes it "handy".



  •  Hmm, maybe I will fnd a use for the tile commands... perhaps trwtf is that Vista has renamed them to "show windows stacked" and "show windows side by side" for the people who don't know their | from their _






  • @Eternal Density said:

     trwtf is that i never knew about that... might be handy some day.  or not.

     

    I too am in awe of this previously unknown feature.  Wile I agree that it's not a WTF, I must applaud the OP for starting the thread.    



  • I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)



  •  Wow, that's really handy to know. I've learned a lot of shortcuts and key combos over the years, but somehow I've never found out about this. Many times I've wanted to group two or three windows without disturbing the other applications that I had running. Thanks :)



  • Feature I've never used but yes I'd heard of it. 

    @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

     

    What is this "User Manual" you speak of? :P 



  • Do they even have user manuals any more?  I thought you were just expected to search the knowledge base for everything you need to find out.



  • I was expecting at least the "two windows have their title bars drawn in the 'active' style" bug.



  • @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

    Do you think MS would actually document this feature in a user manual????

  • Garbage Person

    @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

    Windows comes with a fucking user manual? That's fucking news to me. All I've seen in recent history is a CD attached to a paper-thin quickstart booklet that should be entitled "HOW 2 BOOT UR COMPUTER FROM A CD!!!!" and gobs of USELESS "online help"

    This covers Win98 OEM, 2k OEM, XP OEM and Vista Ultimate retail.



  • @vt_mruhlin said:

    Do they even have user manuals any more?  I thought you were just expected to search the knowledge base for everything you need to find out.

    Don't be silly, the Microsoft knowledge base contains little information of any actual use to anyone.


  • @bstorer said:

    @vt_mruhlin said:

    Do they even have user manuals any more?  I thought you were just expected to search the knowledge base for everything you need to find out.

    Don't be silly, the Microsoft knowledge base contains little information of any actual use to anyone.

    My sarcasm detector might be broken, but how's [url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/143208]that[/url], for example, useless? And I don't think the help is, either; e.g. it contains documentation for Windows command-line utils.



  • Now that's potentially a useful trick, except it doesn't seem to work for grouped windows.  I can select the whole group, but not an individual member of the group.

    Also:
    @bstorer said:

    Don't be silly, the Microsoft knowledge base contains little information of any actual use to anyone.

    That's a WTF right there.  If you've ever had to troubleshoot a windows PC you'll know the knowledgebase is an invaluable source of information.  It's one of the few things Microsoft have ever gotten right.  To give you just two examples I've used in the last fortnight:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/219022/en-us  - If you can find any other source of information on disabling opportunistic locking to improve performance of a foxpro database I'm all ears

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us  - Show me any other documentation covering how to recover and boot a computer with a corrupted registry when the user has taken no backups.

    PS: No preview button when replying?  WTF?



  • @Spectre said:

    My sarcasm detector might be broken, but how's that, for example, useless?
    Now that's the real WTF. Conflicts with the STL? How the fuck does that make it to production?



  • @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

     

    Last time I saw a Windows user manual was 1992. That's when I bought a computer with Win3.1, and got a manual. Haven't seen one since. Funnily, it didn't mention the Start-menu.

    No, I didn't know about this "select multiple windows" thing either! 



  • @myxiplx said:

    PS: No preview button when replying?  WTF?
     

    There is a tab at the top. No button.

    Hooray for opening your eyes.



  • Why do you all have to be so insulting?

    The original poster didn't know about this feature, and neither did I. Thanks for educating us both.

     



  • Occasionally I've found a situation when I click on a task button it just starts flashing orange. I had a once screen shot when they were all flashing. 



  • @Program.X said:

    Why do you all have to be so insulting?

    The original poster didn't know about this feature, and neither did I. Thanks for educating us both.

     

    Alright, so he didn't know about it. He could have asked, or done some research. Instead, he posts it as a WTF.

    He deserves everything he gets.



  • @Zemm said:

    Occasionally I've found a situation when I click on a task button it just starts flashing orange. I had a once screen shot when they were all flashing.
    This usually happens when you have a menu from a tray icon stuck (not necessarily visible).



  • @lolwtf said:

    @Spectre said:
    My sarcasm detector might be broken, but how's that, for example, useless?
    Now that's the real WTF. Conflicts with the STL? How the fuck does that make it to production?

    It looks like min and max were macros that were put in before the STL was common.  Not really a WTF, almost anyone who has used C++ has run into similar problems with code written before STL existed. 



  • @lolwtf said:

    @Spectre said:
    My sarcasm detector might be broken, but how's that, for example, useless?
    Now that's the real WTF. Conflicts with the STL? How the fuck does that make it to production?

    Remember, C++ was standartized in 1998, and Windows is much older.
    Defining <font face="Courier New">max</font> and <font face="Courier New">min</font> in <windows.h> is still a WTF, though.

    BTW, if you didn't know about selecting multiple windows at once, download [url=http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx]TweakUI[/url] and read through the tips file. There's a lot of useful info (including the multiple window selection).



  • @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

     

     Let's see.

     

    $man windows

    No manual entry for windows

     

    I guess not.



  • @boh said:

    @Kiss me I'm Polish said:

    I suppose you didn't read a Windows user manual at least once during the last hmmmm let's say 12 years? :)

     

    Last time I saw a Windows user manual was 1992. That's when I bought a computer with Win3.1, and got a manual. Haven't seen one since. Funnily, it didn't mention the Start-menu.

    Sounds about right:

    • 1992: Dell with Windows 3.1. Had a manual.
    • 1996: HP with Win95. No manual.
    • 1998: Compaq with Win98. No manual.
    • 2002: Homebuilt with Win98SE. No manual.
    • 2007: Retail Window Vista. Manual is a "your first 30 seconds"-type booklet that's totally useless for figuring out how to use Windows.


  • @Carnildo said:

    Sounds about right:

    • 1992: Dell with Windows 3.1. Had a manual.
    • 1996: HP with Win95. No manual.
    • 1998: Compaq with Win98. No manual.
    • 2002: Homebuilt with Win98SE. No manual.
    • 2007: Retail Window Vista. Manual is a "your first 30 seconds"-type booklet that's totally useless for figuring out how to use Windows.

    Do people really care about this?  If so, I need to take advantage of this market.  Any time I get a manual included in a software box, it's the first thing in the trash.  I learn by doing and paper manuals are pretty useless when you're confronted with something as vast as an Operating System.  I think large O'Reilly-style books are good if you are trying to learn a specific angle of a language or technology, but those aren't really manuals so much as textbooks.  I'm really just curious how many people consider the lack of a manual a deficit. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Do people really care about this?
     

    Damnit! Where is my Linux user manual again?



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I'm really just curious how many people consider the lack of a manual a deficit. 
     

    Apparently a bunch of people over on the Why Do People Hate Vista thread.... Although how you can not just figure out Windows-anything is beyond me...



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    Apparently a bunch of people over on the Why Do People Hate Vista thread.... Although how you can not just figure out Windows-anything is beyond me...

    Yeah, that's exactly my point.  Either you are so new to computers that no manual is going to be as helpful as a few lessons from somebody who is knowledgeable or you are skilled enough you should be able to use Google to find the answer.  Hell, MS has some of the best online documentation I've ever seen and it's always up-to-date.  The amount of detail in the KB is absolutely stunning at times.  Meanwhile, you can find just as detailed info for Linux, BSD, OS X or even Amiga on the web.  Of course, since there is no real authoritive source for documentation there, you may have to dig a little more to separate the wheat from the chaff, but I've never considered it a major pain.  I started using Google in late 2001 and I stuck with it because of the fantastic results it gives for technical documentation.  I don't know if the algorithms are tweaked for that or not, but usually the results for tech queries are far more relevent than anything else I search for. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

      I started using Google in late 2001 and I stuck with it because of the fantastic results it gives for technical documentation.  I don't know if the algorithms are tweaked for that or not, but usually the results for tech queries are far more relevent than anything else I search for. 
     

    They actually stole the line highlight and wrapping technology from SSDS.

     

    Shhhhh don't tell the bearded retard.



  • @MasterPlanSoftware said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    I'm really just curious how many people consider the lack of a manual a deficit.
     

    .... Although how you can not just figure out Windows-anything is beyond me...

    Beyond me, too, but a couple days ago I spent five minutes on the phone trying to walk someone through how to shut down a computer running Vista.



  • @Zemm said:

    Occasionally I've found a situation when I click on a task button it just starts flashing orange. I had a once screen shot when they were all flashing. 

    Yeah, I really hate when it starts doing that.  I don't see the logic of flashing buttons orange when Windoze is too busy to show them.  I know I want the window to appear, and I know it hasn't shown it yet, so why start flashing???


  • @Eternal Density said:

    @Zemm said:

    Occasionally I've found a situation when I click on a task button it just starts flashing orange. I had a once screen shot when they were all flashing. 

    Yeah, I really hate when it starts doing that.  I don't see the logic of flashing buttons orange when Windoze is too busy to show them.  I know I want the window to appear, and I know it hasn't shown it yet, so why start flashing???
     

    Because the reason is not that "Windows is too busy to show them."  The reason is Windows is trying to avoid having programs "steal your focus" unless absolutely necessary.   Here is a good example of why you don't want focus stealing to occur:

    http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001011.html 

    Another classic example is the IE download notification window, which loves to pop up, steal the focus, and tell you the great news: your download is complete! Oh, and your newly downloaded file is copying to its destination! Hooray! Unfortunately, this very same download notification dialog also contains a "Cancel" button. Guess which button just so happens to have the focus when this pops up? Why you'd want to cancel a download after it is complete is a mystery to me, but I've inadvertently pressed the space bar on this dialog more than once.

     If you really don't like Windows' default behaviour in this regard, you can change it or even disable it in XP using TweakXP:

    http://mycvs.org/archives/2004/11/16/applications-stealing-focus-on-windows-xp/ 



  • Having things flash all over the screen causes *me* to lose focus...

    Um... why bring up IE?  No one here uses it, right? 



  • @Eternal Density said:

    Having things flash all over the screen causes *me* to lose focus...

    I assume that's the point.  Personally, it's much less irritating to have something flashing at me than to have something steal my focus.  I actually wish more Linux programs would adopt this as a way to alert the user to important information without popping the damn window up in front of them (curse you Gmail!!!!) 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    Having things flash all over the screen causes *me* to lose focus...

    I assume that's the point.  Personally, it's much less irritating to have something flashing at me than to have something steal my focus.  I actually wish more Linux programs would adopt this as a way to alert the user to important information without popping the damn window up in front of them (curse you Gmail!!!!) 

    the problem is when i click on a window and WANT it to have focus but it starts flashing in the taskbar instead.


  • @Eternal Density said:

    Having things flash all over the screen causes *me* to lose focus...

    Um... why bring up IE?  No one here uses it, right? 

     

    It is just an example of why having applications steal your keyboard focus unexpectedly is bad.  Please use your imagination, okay?   I didn't feel like writing my own example, so I linked to a blog that, conveniently enough, had done the job for me.

    Geez. 

    Anyway, why not just use TweakXP to change this undesirable behaviour?  Or edit the registry directly.  Or use a 3rd party tool like X-Setup.  Or...you could just continue to complain about the "problem". 

    (Edit: if you tried TweakXP, and it didn't fix the problem, then I think you would have a legitimate complaint.  If you didn't try TweakXP, then...not so much.  Of course, this is assuming you are running XP.)



  • Ah.  I was just saying why it was bad in my specific case.  I agree there are legitimate times when it is better to flash than to put a focussed window in your way.

    My XP computer has bigger problems and hasn't been used for months, so it's not really worth bothering about. 



  • @Eternal Density said:

    Having things flash all over the screen causes *me* to lose focus...

    Um... why bring up IE?  No one here uses it, right? 

     

    As has been said, an orange flashy "hey, when you're finished what you're doing, I've got an update for ya" is 1000000000000000000000008x better than some idiot programpushing itself to the top saying "look at me, look at me, LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEE!" causing you to enter input into the wrong application, with either hilarious or disasterous results.

    As for IE, why not? In Vista I trust it more than Firefox. It's more likely secure (especially since I don't use plugins with it, unlike Fx).



  • @Eternal Density said:

    so why start flashing???
     

    It's more than likely a bug than anything else -- That window tried to come into focus but failed (because of focus stealing prevention), thus it tripped over the same set of code in the Windows UI as if it was a new window trying to come to focus, there probably wasn't proper handling (in the focus stealing prevention) for the fact that window may have been requested to come to the surface by the user.

     That's my guess anyway..



  • @Eternal Density said:

    I actually wish more Linux programs would adopt this as a way to alert the user to important information without popping the damn window up in front of them (curse you Gmail!!!!)


    KWin (KDE's WM) had focus stealing prevention since forever, what retarded WM are you talking about?



  • @CapitalT said:

    KWin (KDE's WM) had focus stealing prevention since forever, what retarded WM are you talking about?

    Well, one that lets me quote the right person, first.  I personally hate KDE, it's ugly, slow and bloated.  I prefer xfce. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I personally hate KDE, it's ugly, slow and bloated.  I prefer xfce. 
    KDE seems to have been corrected in that regard (judging from FaunOS' default); however I prefer E16 (pretty), Fluxbox (ugly but utilitarian) and wmii (Minimalistic and utilitarian) in no particular order, Fluxbox has focus prevention.



  • @Lingerance said:

    KDE seems to have been corrected in that regard (judging from FaunOS' default); however I prefer E16 (pretty), Fluxbox (ugly but utilitarian) and wmii (Minimalistic and utilitarian) in no particular order, Fluxbox has focus prevention.

    Hmm, I should probably check KDE out again.  I like a very light, utilitarian desktop which is why I use xfce.  If I wanted shiny, I'd probably go for E16 over KDE.  Also, I compile all my packages from source and KDE is really slow to compile since it makes such extensive use of C++.  Anyway, it's all a matter of taste, but CapitalIT called xfce retarded and I must defend my maiden's honor.



  • I won't argue about ugliness, it's a pointless discussion. For those who want to prettify KDE there is always kde-look.org. But slow and bloated? Do some research, not for my sake but for the sake of those who put a lot of effort in this gigantic project.


    Sheesh, some people.


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