Using Flicks to Switch Windows via Alt+Tab or Win+Tab

Tablet PC Team — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:31:00 GMT

Here's a great trick I learned recently... the window-switching experiences you get by pressing [Alt+Tab] or [Win+Tab] can be made "sticky" by holding the [Ctrl] key (ie, [Ctrl+Alt+Tab] or [Ctrl+Win+Tab]). The window-selection mode will persist, on-screen, until you choose a window (or press [Esc], or click somewhere else on the desktop).

This trick is super-useful. Why? For configuring Flicks to switch windows, of course!

Background: Flicks are a mechanism built into Windows Vista, for Tablet PC systems, which allow you to perform common keyboard operations with a quick flick gesture of the pen.

By default, only the "navigational" Flicks are enabled -- these are the most useful (scrolling up/down, navigating forward/back) and the easiest flick gestures to perform. You can optionally enable another 4 flick commands, which default to common editing operations (clockwise from the top: copy, paste, undo, delete).

To configure Flicks, type "Pen and Input" into the Start menu. (Or, just make a few furtive flick gestures on your desktop, and respond to the little balloon which pops up. :-)

Personally, I've never felt so great about "delete" being mapped to some gesture of the pen I could perform by accident (not every app has undo support)!

The good news is, you can remap this flick gesture to virtually any appcommand or key combination. May I suggest [Ctrl+Win+Tab]? (Stick with [Ctrl+Alt+Tab] if your Tablet PC is glass-challenged, or if you're miserly with your battery.)

The real magic with all this is in how well it works -- the Flip3D team clearly put a lot of effort into accurate hit-testing on the 3D windows they render. This makes it gratifyingly intuitive to tap on the 3D windows' representations, with the pen. You can even flick forward/backward, and the "deck" of windows will respond as expected. Awesome.

Amaze your friends! Terrify your enemies!

Tablet PC Team Blog : Flip3D

Using Flicks to Switch Windows via Alt+Tab or Win+Tab