How much is that doggie in the window?
I read a really good article the other day over on Ars about Windows Vista and how stuff works under the covers in terms of how things draw on Windows Vista. It's a pretty easy read; it's true what they said. Unfortunately we didn't add in any more effects to show off DWM. Flip3D is nice, but I rarely use it because I can't look at all the windows that I have open at once. I have to go through a Rolodex. So I use the task bar at the bottom of the screen or Alt+Tab.
Alt+Tab now gives you a screen shot of what each application looks like. Think the "F9" behavior of Mac OSX's Exposé without all the glamorous animations. Of course, Windows XP also had this functionality with a PowerToy. But because, by definition, it was a PowerToy, probably 95% of the users didn't even know this existed. Plus, it was relatively slow. If you read the Ars article above, you'll understand why; it basically had to ask each window to tell it what it looked like. So it was slow.
First, let me get this out there : I'm not anti-Mac. I have a few of Macs at home (a Mac Mini G4, two iBook G4s, and an iMac lampshade edition). So I've grown pretty fond of Exposé. Of course, I really didn't have any other choice. Switching between different windows on the Mac isn't easy (without Exposé). You only see the open applications in the dock. Each application might have more than one open window. And when you single click on the application, it brings up all the application windows. It's not a simple one quick click operation and seems to be a confusing paradigm to those used to Windows functionality.
Windows doesn't have this problem. Most windows have a taskbar button you can use to activate them (and it's been like this since Windows 95).
This all being said, I've been playing around with a few DWM community made add-ons for Windows Vista. I've played with MyExposé (which hasn't been updated in a while, although it says he's starting again soon), SmartFlip, and now Switcher. Out of all three, I like Switcher the best. They all do different layouts, and they all seem to be in different stages of development, so you can use them all (I think, and if you truly need a bunch of animations). I just find that as of right now, Switcher has the least issues along with it.
