gvwm

After a long time bundling together a diversity of features in Windows iterations, the latest one finally delivered multiple desktops. However, the possibility to extend your work in virtual environments has been around for quite some time in the form of third-party applications, and gvwm is a suitable example in this regard.

One advantage in particular is the possibility to have it stored and carried around on a thumb drive, because it’s not packed inside an installer. This means that registry entries remain intact during the operation, so stability is not put at risk. Note that you need to make sure that .NET Framework is installed on the target computer.

Although the application wants to enable the use of multiple desktops, it does so in a different fashion than what you might be used to. This isn’t an inconvenience though, because it allows easy management of active windows through a drag and drop operation inside the preset grid.

By default, you start off in a 2x2 grid, each representing a space to store active windows. Later items are displayed as icons which are easy to identify. These can easily be moved from plain sight into empty slots by dragging them. However, you can’t exactly jump to other desktops, so other environments are simple there for storage.

There’s the possibility to configure the grid from the menu, with options to define rows and columns, adding up to five items. There are no hotkey commands to move windows around, so you depend entirely on the window. When not directly used, you can minimize it to the tray area.

Gvwm might not be your average virtual desktop tool, but it can surely come in handy if your desktop easily becomes crowded. Windows are easily moved around through a drag and drop operation, while gathering all of them at the press of a button.