@Fubar (#11): F11 as a full-screen/windowed toggle for Explorer and IE6+ works in XP; it did NOT start with Vista!

Mosaico is a lightweight app that lets you arrange open program windows on your desktop, take a snapshot of that arrangement, & then in the future when you select that snapshot [from the maximum of 8 you can store], Mosaico will duplicate it, opening whatever programs necessary. In testing it wouldn't open the the same files in those apps [they opened empty], & it didn't close any open apps that don't belong in your snapshot. A potentially annoying side effect is that when you open a program on its own, the window retains the size from the last used arrangement, e.g. if Notepad or Word etc. is oddly sized to *fit* an arrangement, just opening Notepad or Word, their windows will be that same odd size. A matter of personal taste, some will not like Mosaico being very orange, depending on your display perhaps more so than in the screenshots. In use it's a semi-transparent floating toolbar, that can snap to the top or sides of your screen -- it expands downward on mouse-over, & could [IMHO should] be quite a bit thinner [Ashampoo Snap comes to mind as a great example of how non-intrusive an expanding toolbar can be].

Mosaico itself uses few resources, but *seemed* a bit buggy when activating a snapshot, because it could take a while to get every app opened with all the windows in place -- it just took a bit of waiting patiently [there wasn't a lot of disk activity, nor was any CPU load shown in Task Mgr.]. You'll probably also want to arrange the windows yourself [IMHO easier with Mosaico turned off], as its auto-arranged best fits weren't always usable... you can move the windows around with Mosaico on, but I felt it more annoying than useful when it tried to *help*.

Installing & registering Mosaico wasn't bad, but activating the app itself [beyond the GOTD activation] does depend on a phone home -- after setup you 1st have to activate the app, then with it running register Mosaico using the key in the GOTD readme.txt file. The program's folder takes up ~16.5 MB with 21 files, 1 folder -- in XP I also got a IProt folder under All Users Application Data, & a SoulidStudio folder under User\Local Settings\ Application Data. I also got 1 registry key for the app itself, one for unintall, & one for licenses -- I count an even dozen new registry entries, ignoring those for miscellaneous caches, connecting on-line etc.

There are loads of window managers, some including eye candy, but which one is best, or if you can get a productivity boost from using one depends both on what you're doing & the ways you personally like to work. For graphics & audio/video you very often just want the app you're working in maxed on-screen, plus you can't always pay attention to more than one, like when you're reading/browsing on-line -- 1 reason for tabbed browsers versus a lot of open browser windows. Then there's the basis for Windows itself, having however many windows open & ideally sized, being able to switch between them easily, minimize some to lessen clutter, & focus where you need to. Microsoft put a lot of effort into making management of multiple app windows easier in win7 [+ more attractive with Flip 3D], & the mostly rave reviews of those added features IMHO say that's how most people work. OTOH you've probably seen Wall St. types on TV, monitoring banks of screens with continually updating data -- there having screens arranged so you can see every one makes sense. Another example would be monitoring several video feeds. If you do that sort of thing constantly you don't need a window mgr., because you'll set it once & forget it -- if you do it sometimes, an app that makes it easy to recall an arrangement like Mosaico makes sense. If you want a customized desktop, e.g. gray for video/graphics with shortcuts just for the video/graphics apps you'll use, & you only want it sometimes, you might want a desktop mgr. or virtual desktop app, there are plenty of those to choose from too.

Wikipedia - Virtual Desktop http://goo.gl/SLqO
VirtuaWin - http://goo.gl/4lqo

Instead of switching back and forth between the two windows just arrange them using Mosaico and save this layout in a snapshot. However you move/resize these or any other window, you will always blow huge loads in the rest room to be able to return to the configuration you saved beforehand.

Underscoring the recommendations from previous posters - if you combine Winsplit with Dexpot - you have most of the functionality of Mosaic,plus extra features.

Merry Christmas to everyone at Giveaway of the day. Thanks for all the great software. Best wishes for 2011.

Hello... Unfortunately Mosaico doesn't work well here !
I was able to install and activate it, but it hangs when I click the restore current snapshot button... It restores some of the windows fine, but at the same time, brings out some other windows (of programs that are normally hidden) and places them minimized at the bottom left corner of the desktop... I tried it on windows 7 enterprise 64x and on windows vista ultimate 64x, but I got the same problems... I don't know, it might be a 64x issue or something !
I'll try to see if it works on xp later today if I have the time...
Thanks !

People are talking about a bunch of different things. Mosaico calls itself a "virtual desktop manager", but it's more of a window manager. The on-screen toolbar somewhat defeats the purpose. As for window managers, I've tried WinSplit Revolution and didn't like it. I much prefer NTWind WindowSpace, which is currently on sale.

Most people have no idea what Windows is capable of in terms of handling windows. In fact, no one at Microsoft has a clue. Windows doesn't qualify as an operating system, applications can do anything. No one knows what hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts) are in use, including the bozos at Microsoft, and most application programmers don't bother to check before swiping in-use hotkeys. Microsoft has dropped probably around 90% of the Windows hotkeys because no one knows what they are and there are endless application conflicts.

Maximize can be different from fullscreen. Traditionally, clicking the maximize button or double-clicking the title bar maximized a window. Alt-Enter has been around forever as toggling between windowed and usually fullscreen (may be maximized for some apps). However, starting with Vista, Microsoft has generally been using F11 to toggle between windowed and fullscreen. But of course, this causes problems with not only legacy apps but various Microsoft apps. For example, in Vista and higher, F11 toggles between windowed and fullscreen Explorer and IE 8+ views. Explorer uses Alt-Enter for Properties, but IE 8+ will still respond to Alt-Enter for fullscreen. However, Media Center, even in Win7, still uses Alt-Enter and not F11. WMP doesn't respond to either, you have to click the non-standard button at the lower right.

Further, most people are clueless that in Vista and higher you can control which panels are displayed in Explorer, making working with two or more instances easy and convenient. For the most part, people seem to be clueless about just how much Explorer was improved in Vista and just what all you can do conveniently.

Windows 7 added a bunch of keyboard shortcuts for handling windows, check the Help and Support link on your Start menu.

WinSplit Revolution >> with less than half the footprint of Mosaico << works EXTREMELY well.

During the months that I have been using it it never failed a single time, nor froze or acted weirdly.

I see that Ashraf mentioned WinSplit Revolution in his 'Free Alternatives' section and I find it absolutely great that he always presents the GAOTD fans with alternative options to the currently offered give-aways.

The free alternative presented by Ashraf today IMHO is simply unbeatable!

I looked at five free Virtual Desktop Managers including VirtuaWin, Microdesk, Dexpot, Virtual Dimension and MSVDM.


VirtuaWin is a competent but basic product that depends on third-party modules for extra features but unfortunately there aren't many around.

Microdesk comes with more standard features such as 99 desktops, configuration of each desktop (name, password, wallpaper and icons), an attractive interface and a configurable transparent menu above the tray bar to navigate among desktops. However, there is no detailed FAQ and no forum.

Dexpot allows even more configuration for each of its 20 possible desktops with its well-organized interface and enables easy switching among desktops and quick movement of windows. The online documentation is slightly incomplete and the most active section of the online forum is in German. This should not prove to be much of a hindrance, due to the ease of use of the application.

Next is Virtual Dimension. With a more minimalist and "straight to the point" approach, I found it to be fast and easy to install, configure and use. Documentation seems to be lacking a bit, but once again, like Dexpot, it should not be much of a problem to begin using this little VDM.

Finally there is MSVDM also known as Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager. I had a fairly pleasant experience with MSVDM. Although lacking in some of the features found in most of the other applications, it makes up by its small size and simplicity. If you've looking for just the basics in a VDM, MSVDM is a good choice.

The five Virtual Desktop Managers I reviewed are all very capable products but I have to recommend Dexpot due to its attractive interface, ease of use, various language versions and features list.

(Moderator note: Entire comment was copied from http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-virtual-desktop-manager.htm )

Vista Virtual Desktops is managed by Z-Systems, which also manages a few other fine open-source projects.

..very poor software...even having a simple interface..all the rest is very poor..you can't do about nothing ...you're just able to take a snapshot and restore it...thats it...by the way..after the 8 snapshot a window pops up telling you the trial is over and you have to register..even if you've registered already..pass this one..but thanks a lot to the developer and GAOTD!!!

Mosaico 1.3 released!: Great news: a new version of Mosaico is available for download! - This version 1.3 is certainly the... Development diary: persistence and philosophy: It's been a hard-work week, but I can say that work pays off (at last). One of the three pillars of Development diary: multi-monitor support coming soon!: The most requested feature in Mosaico recent appearance on GiveawayOfTheDay.com was the support of... Thank you!

Here are the Features:

* Up to 8 desktop snapshots
* 3D picture-flow of available snapshots
* Restore anytime a previous windows layout with a single click
* Snapshots are saved to hard disk
* Automatically or manually arrange windows to cover the whole monitor surface
* Multi-monitor support
* Assisted windows moving/resizing
* Innovative concept of virtual desktop manager
* Easy to use

Mosaico can also arrange windows so that they fill the whole screen surface, giving you more information at a time.

Easy to control except for the lack of an options menu and labels on the buttons, but any ways definitely a good download.

everyone this is one of the best softwares i have used i reccomend it to everyone

The Good
* Straightforward and easy to use.
* Users can manually tile windows, or have Mosaico automatically tile them.
* Windows can be tiled next to each other, or "on top" of each other.
* Mosaico can save up to 8 "snapshots" of open windows and automatically restore them to their position/size even if the windows/programs have been closed.

The Bad
* Lacks the ability to work out of the system tray - the floating widget is the only way Mosaico operates.
* Temporarily freezes after restoring snapshots of windows that are closed.
* Needs alternatives ways to allow users to manually position windows.
* Needs to allow users to select how they want windows to be tiled when using the automatic tiling feature.

Free Alternatives
WinSplit Revolution

For final verdict, recommendations, and full review please click here.