Play and Test Drive Windows Vista Flip 3D Feature at Showusyourwow.msn.com
One of the new feature or enhancement in Windows Vista is Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D windows management system. You should be familiar with using Alt + Tab keys in Windows XP, Windows 2000/2003, Windows Me/98/95 and even earliest version of Windows 3.x to manage or switch windows, programs or tasks. The “cool switch” task switching functionality, as referred internally by Microsoft, is an easy keyboard shortcut way for Windows users to switch or move between various programs or tasks windows when multitasking. However, the Alt+Tab tasks switching function is limited and not user friendly in previous version of Windows. Microsoft tries to enhance the feature with Windows XP PowerToy called Task Switcher where a new switcher pane with thumbnails of each running application will be shown when Alt+Tab is pressed. This concept is now further enhanced and renamed to Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D in Windows Vista.
Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D allows Windows Vista users to flip through open windows by using Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut. While you press Alt+Tab and hold down the Alt key, Windows Flip provides a live thumbnail of each window, together with the name of the current document, if applicable, followed by the application name running in the highlighted window, rather than just a generic icon and file name as in previous version of Windows, so that users can quickly and easily identify the window that they want to switch or flip to, particularly when multiple windows of the same kind are open. In you’re pressing Alt + Tab quickly, Windows Vista will jump you to previously accessed and viewed Windows without going through Windows Flip thumbnails view.
Windows Flip in Windows Vista
Another more advanced task switcher on Windows Vista is Windows Flip 3D, which may eventually replace Windows Flip. With Windows Flip 3D, instead of just a live static thumbnail of each applications, the thumbnails of each windows are now “live” where any changes to each window will be reflecting immediately on the thumbnail preview (i.e. when playing movie, you will actually see the movie in Flip 3D window preview). In order to use Flip 3D, you press Windows + Tab keys instead of Alt + Tab (Windows key normally located conveniently beside Alt key). The preview windows in Flip 3D is much larger than the live thumbnails of Flip, and open windows are angled in a stack in Flip 3D where users can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to flip or navigate through them to quickly locate and select the application or task they want to work with. Beside mouse’s scroll wheel, you can also use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to move through the stack of windows. If you’re using mouse’s scroll wheel or arrow keys to navigate in Flip 3D, Windows key must be kept pressed down. Once released, Windows will exit from Flip 3D and the window that is visually on top of the others in the window stack will be selected and displayed, or you can select the screen you want with mouse.
Navigating open windows in Windows Vista with Flip 3D with scroll wheel, arrow keys or Windows+Tab keys.
Both Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D requires Windows Aero Glass feature enabled to work (which mean your hardware specification has to match the requirement of Windows Vista Premium Ready PC). Windows Flip is not available in Windows Vista Starter edition, where it still looks like the classic task switcher in Windows XP with no thumbnails of windows. Flip 3D feature is only available in Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Ultimate. In Windows Vista, Windows Desktop is also been shown as one of the running tasks where you can select in order to jump directly to desktop. In Windows XP, this feature is only available with “Show Desktop” command icon.
You can now test drive and has a feel on how Windows Flip 3D works and behaves in Windows Vista windows navigation system at showusyourwow.msn.com, although the “windows” are actually photos instead of tasks. The same website also runs “Wow” contest that giveaway free trip and free Windows Vista.
Related Articles
- Alternative to Use Windows Vista Flip 3D Feature in Windows XP with TopDesk
- Add Window Switcher (Flip 3D) Command to Vista Right Click Menu
- How to Turn Off and Disable Windows Flip 3D Switcher in Vista
- Restore and Recover Window Switcher (Flip3D or Flip) Shortcut or Icon in Vista
- Enjoy Flip 3D Effect in Your Windows XP
- Yod’m 3D – Yet anOther (Flip) 3D Virtual Desktop Manager for Widows XP and Vista
- Switcher 2 Free Download As Alt-Tab or Win-Tab (Aero Flip 3D) Alternative Replacement Like Mac Expose
- Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise Test Drive
- Add and Create Aero Flip 3D Shortcut (on Desktop, Quick Launch or Windows 7 Taskbar)
- Windows Vista SP1 Online Test Drive
Entries (RSS)
January 17th, 2009 23:49
[...] Vista, and in Windows 7, Microsoft has added Windows Aero support which among its features is Flip 3D, an application window switcher that switches between running programs in live streaming 3D view. [...]
March 26th, 2007 01:43
[...] Vista (for those with hardware supports Windows Aero) features Flip 3D, a 3D windows management system that uses the dimension of visual depth by rendering images of live [...]
March 14th, 2007 08:27
same prob. i can’t seem to get win vista’s flip to run or the alt + Tab to show the gool effect and i don’t have the GLASS effect too and im running windows vista ultimate please notify me by email tyler.l@quickclic.net plz no spam or i will report you…
March 3rd, 2007 01:04
Well i use Vista Ultimate right now,both flip and 3D flip do not work…
if there are any other settings then plz notify me.
Is there any other plugin just as 3D flip?
thank’s
January 17th, 2007 01:50
[...] Various marketing campaign is getting more intense to promote Windows Vista which will be available on retail channel from 30th January 2007, such as contest at Showusyourwow.msn.com, Windows Vista giveaway via PowerTogether.com web casts or virtual labs, plenty of print or TV media ads, and free online test drive of Windows Vista. And the Windows Vista consumer launch and viral marketing campaign to create the buzz now comes to a climax with mysterious Vanishing Point game jointly organized by Microsoft and AMD, a sweepstakes and also a large-scale online and offline collaborative puzzle game. Vanishing Point is a marketing strategy and a game driven promotional sweepstakes done by 42 Entertainment for Microsoft as part of celebration of Windows Vista consumer launch. The addicting game started when bloggers and the selected who’s who started to receive the extravagant free Acer Ferrari laptops and other desktop computers, mystery wooden box which contains USB drives with Cipher Key, from_Loki.txt and Loki.wmv (shown below), or translucent box with Windows Vista Launch Kit. Gifts are sent by LOKI, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 and in them is a mystery paper note or letter that said the following, with reference to http://www.vanishingpointgame.com. You are now a decoder. There are only a few like you, but thousands more are looking for you. Find the other decoders before Zero Hour. [...]
January 13th, 2007 02:35
[...] Windows Vista has a demanding hardware specification for Premium Ready PC that will enable all advanced 3D features that make Windows Vista a worthy upgrade from Windows XP such as Windows Aero glass transparency effect, Windows Flip 3D and Windows DreamScene. However, with some simple utility, you can actually make and transform Windows XP with 3D features from Windows Vista without even upgrading the system hardware such as graphics card. One of them is TopDesk which enables Windows Flip 3D Vista feature in Windows XP. Another tool is Madotate which will transform Windows XP desktop into flippable 3D desktop. Madotate [...]