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window/app switcher for Windows 8

McCloud
By McCloud
in Operating Systems
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I was looking for a 3rd party software / widget, that would allow me to switch between open windows more conveniently. I am running Windows 8, and the default alt+tab option offers only very small previews of opened windows. Which I've found out is not ideal when working with a large amount of open windows/applications.

I was surprised that I wasn't able to find anything when searching on google.

Something like the Aero 3D Flip in Win 7 would be ideal. Also in Mac, window switching is great.

Does something like this exist for Win 8 that someone can recommend ?

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Win+Tab?

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Win+Tab?

 

This. Use it all the time. ;) 

 

Also, you might want to upgrade to win 10. It is better than 8 and will only be a "free" upgrade for a limited time. 

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Win+Tab?

if it was as easy as this, do you think I would spend time asking here ? :)  Doesn't work for me.

This. Use it all the time. ;)

 

Also, you might want to upgrade to win 10. It is better than 8 and will only be a "free" upgrade for a limited time. 

After years of experience, I have now a general rule that I don't upgrade anything that works... did the upgrade work seamlessly for you ? Does Win 10 provide a better window switching feature ? 

Thanks.

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if it was as easy as this, do you think I would spend time asking here ? :)  Doesn't work for me.

After years of experience, I have now a general rule that I don't upgrade anything that works... did the upgrade work seamlessly for you ? Does Win 10 provide a better window switching feature ? 

Thanks.

Win10 is what win8 should have been.

The windows apps are all windowed just like any application. Not full screen always like it was on win8

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Win10 is what win8 should have been.

The windows apps are all windowed just like any application. Not full screen always like it was on win8

I use Classic Start Menu from the beginning, so I haven't really noticed any 'negatives' in Win 8 anyway :) 

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if it was as easy as this, do you think I would spend time asking here ? :)  Doesn't work for me.

After years of experience, I have now a general rule that I don't upgrade anything that works... did the upgrade work seamlessly for you ? Does Win 10 provide a better window switching feature ? 

Thanks.

No one can insure that everything at 100% will work, unless you have someone with identical hardware, including revision of the hardware, and uses the exactly the same configuration inside the system, and uses the exact same software.

 

But Windows 10 has been robust and smooth upgrade for most people. It was iffy in the early days as manufacture were scrambling for making Win10 drivers (for some reason Intel GPUs STILL has issues, but much better than before, thanks to Microsoft sending a whole team at Intel to get their shit together to have something decent), but that is fixed for most hardware. Microsoft is about to release a Service Pack like update (they are no more Service Packs), which will change the build number of Windows, includes a massive amount  of bug fixes, polish, and also have new features. Should be released in a week or two. So you may want to hold for that, but it works nicely now, at least for the great majority of people.

 

The general rule of thumb for upgrading is:

 -> Before updating Windows, uninstall any security software including A/V, and VPN software, and restart the system

 -> Update all your drivers before upgrading (some, under a specific version, have been found to cause a problem in the upgrade process, those have been solved, so just to be sure, make sure you have the latest. Check for EVERYT driver of your system).

 -> Make sure your BIOS/UEFI is up-to-date.

 -> If you had a virus or malware or use a system tweak utility, consider doing clean install of Windows 10 instead. Virus/malware infections is only removed your anti-virus/anti-malware, it doesn't fix modified system files.

 

Beside that, you are  good to go.

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if it was as easy as this, do you think I would spend time asking here ? :)  Doesn't work for me.

After years of experience, I have now a general rule that I don't upgrade anything that works... did the upgrade work seamlessly for you ? Does Win 10 provide a better window switching feature ? 

Thanks.

 

I can understand why you have that rule, but on that same token, you may be missing out on better things. ;) I'm a little different, I like trying out new things, even if they don't work 100% perfect in the beginning. To each, his/her own. ;) 

 

The win 10 update experience was pretty much problem free for me and it has been working great since. The win+tab window/app switching feature is a feature that maybe was left out of windows 8? (it works on windows 7 on my work PC). It's very Ubuntu gnome like which I find amusing (though works better/is more functional in Ubuntu). 

 

The upgrade for you *should* go smoothly, just follow the tips @GoodBytes suggested and it should be fine. :)

 

BTW, when you say you're currently using windows 8, do you mean 8.1 or 8? I believe you have to first upgrade to 8.1 to update to 10, but I could be wrong.

My Systems:

Main - Work + Gaming:

Spoiler

Woodland Raven: Ryzen 2700X // AMD Wraith RGB // Asus Prime X570-P // G.Skill 2x 8GB 3600MHz DDR4 // Radeon RX Vega 56 // Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB M.2 SSD // Deepcool DQ650-M // chassis build in progress // Windows 10 // Thrustmaster TMX + G27 pedals & shifter

F@H Rig:

Spoiler

FX-8350 // Deepcool Neptwin // MSI 970 Gaming // AData 2x 4GB 1600 DDR3 // 2x Gigabyte RX-570 4G's // Samsung 840 120GB SSD // Cooler Master V650 // Windows 10

 

HTPC:

Spoiler

SNES PC (HTPC): i3-4150 @3.5 // Gigabyte GA-H87N-Wifi // G.Skill 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 // Asus Dual GTX 1050Ti 4GB OC // AData SP600 128GB SSD // Pico 160XT PSU // Custom SNES Enclosure // 55" LG LED 1080p TV  // Logitech wireless touchpad-keyboard // Windows 10 // Build Log

Laptops:

Spoiler

MY DAILY: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 // 14" 1440x900 // i5-540M 2.5GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD iGPU + Quadro NVS 3100M 512MB dGPU // 2x4GB DDR3L 1066 // Mushkin Triactor 480GB SSD // Windows 10

 

WIFE'S: Dell Latitude E5450 // 14" 1366x768 // i5-5300U 2.3GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD5500 // 2x4GB RAM DDR3L 1600 // 500GB 7200 HDD // Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon

 

EXPERIMENTAL: Pinebook // 11.6" 1080p // Manjaro KDE (ARM)

NAS:

Spoiler

Home NAS: Pentium G4400 @3.3 // Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 // 2x 4GB DDR4 2400 // Intel HD Graphics // Kingston A400 120GB SSD // 3x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 HDDs in RAID-Z // Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w PSU // Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG // FreeNAS OS

 

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Win 8.

But still I am really surprised, that I couldn't find a 3d party software for this.. 

 

Edit:

already got one :)

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