Section 3.8. Windows Flip 3D


3.8. Windows Flip 3D

If your PC is capable of running Aero (Section 2.2), Microsoft has something much slicker for this purpose: Flip 3D, a sort of holographic alternative to the Alt+Tab trick.

The concept is delicious . With the press of a keystroke, Vista shrinks all windows in all programs so that they all fit on the screen (Figure 3-16), stacked like the exploded view of a deck of cards. You flip through them to find the one you want, and you're there. It's fast, efficient, animated, and a lot of fun.

Figure 3-16. These window miniatures aren't snapshots; they're "live." That is, if anything is changing inside a window (a movie is playing, for example), you'll see it right on the 3D miniature .
By the way: Don't miss the cool slow-mo trick described in Appendix B.



Tip: You even see, among the other 3D "cards," a picture of the desktop itself. If you choose it, Vista minimizes all open windows and takes you to the desktop for quick access to whatever is there.

Here's how you use it, in slow motion. First, press +Tab. If you keep your thumb on the key, you see something like Figure 3-16.

Keep your thumb on the key. At this point, you can shuffle through the "deck" of windows using any of these techniques:

  • Tap the Tab key repeatedly. (Add the Shift key to move backward through the stack.)

  • Press the down arrow key or the right arrow key. (Use the up or left arrow key to move backward.)

  • Turn your mouses scroll wheel toward you. (Roll it away to move backward.)

When the window you want is in front, release the key. The 3-D stack vanishes, and the lucky window appears before you at full size .




Windows Vista for Starters
Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596528264
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 175
Authors: David Pogue

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