Dexpot - Virtual Desktops for Windows

For those people who are still using Windows, or especially those frustrated with having to use it at work or some other reason when the preferred OS is a Linux distribution, this free program can make life a little bit tolerable. Dexpot is a nice little program that allows Windows users to enjoy the functionality of multiple virtual desktops we Linux users have come to appreciate and rely on to be more productive. After years of working with multiple desktops, sitting in front of a Windows machine and flipping through tabs and tabs of open applications I constantly remind myself how spoiled I am to have something so simple associated with my OS that just makes daily life a little easier.

The writers have done a great job at making installation as simple as just a couple of mouse clicks. After all is installed, this little program runs in the background and when set up, can show icons of all the desktops in the taskbar.

A simple click of the dropdown arrow or icon in the taskbar will show the control panel for Dexpot where the user can go into the program and make tweaks and adjustments to set the program up to their own personal liking.

For those who have never worked with virtual desktops before, I would personally suggest trying a variety of settings to see which ones work best for their particular style of usage. I actually prefer a little bit of extra “eye candy” to my daily functions so I prefer having the cube do my desktop switching graphics. I have also found it handy to have icons show up in the various taskbar screens so I have a reminder of what I have open and in which desktop. The image below shows that there is quite a bit of functionality built into this little program that by the way, is FREE for private use!

From the standpoint of a seasoned virtual desktop user, the most used functionality I found was under the General tab (of course) to select the number of desktops and under Switching Desktops and Plugins and Extras. Clicking on the various plugins will activate them so there’s no worry about getting lost in all the functions available or running into stuff not necessary while doing various things.

Under the controls tab, users can select a variety of mouse gestures or hotkeys that may be useful for some individuals. Just remember that assigning hotkeys to Dexpot could interfere with other hot key controls that are used for other routine functions so proceed with caution when exploring with these options.

Below is a shot of the options available with mouse controls. Sometimes it’s handy to be able to switch desktops just by pushing the mouse to the right or left of the screen and waiting a few hundred milliseconds. Other people may find this annoying and turn this function off. Most options are off by default which makes it much easier to set up Dexpot to your liking since I believe that most people find it annoying to have options on then try and figure out what it is they need to turn off.

Below is a screenshot I captured of the cube plugin screen switcher option. As I mentioned, there is a lot of options to go through and a lot of useful functionality built into this free program. If a person is accustomed to using a Linux OS and wants the functionality of their virtual desktops carried over to a Windows machine then this is the answer to make your life more tolerable. For those who are already Windows users and really don’t understand much about what is being presented in this article, I suggest giving it a whirl and in just a matter of minutes it will become clear. Either way, Dexpot is one of those great free programs that has changed the way Linux users appreciate the time they have to spend on a Windows machine.

Download Dexpot @ http://dexpot.de/

Smart, Git and Easy

 Here’s a great program that my friend Andy from openSUSE turned me on to that makes handling Git that much easier than typing at the CLI (Command Line Interface). Many Linux users are already familiar with Git, but for those who aren’t, Git is a nice revision control sharing system. A host is used as an interface for the commands and in a similar fashion as Google Drive or Dropbox, files are moved in and out. Git provides timestamps to each file as it is accessed, or in Gits case pushed into the host or pulled from the host. This file sharing method makes collaborating on a single file or a multitude of files that much easier to track so everyone involved with the file can tell which file was updated last so there is no confusion. At least this is my jist of Git.

 SmartGit is a really nice GUI for taking place of doing Git commands from the terminal line. I grew up in the pre-GUI age long before Windows was invented and spent years and years working from the command line. To be honest, if I never had to use one again would be ok with me, but as most Linux distros and programmers have not fully reached a point of escape from command line operations, sometimes we need to go there. Thankfully there are programmers who think like I do and work their magic on projects like SmartGit to eliminate some of the old CLI usage.

 I would have preferred SmartGit to be a little easier to get setup, but a couple of good articles via Google search and it can be done fairly easy. It downloads as a tar file but doesn’t get extracted and installed the same way most would. Instead, the files simply get extracted and then some modifications have to be made. If it weren’t for the fact that this software came highly recommended by someone I trust, I might have looked for an easier alternative or gave in and went by command line, but I kind of like a challenge anyway.

The first thing to note is that this GUI is dependent on the Java Runtime Environment, so make sure it is installed on your computer or at least have the file available. We are going to have to know the path to the file and paste it into one of the SmartGit files so it knows where to get it from.

This is the file we will need to open with our text editor and put in the path to our JRE.

Next, with text editor of choice, insert the path location into the file and save it. It should look like this.

Now all we have to do is run it and then add a launcher so we don’t have to initialize from the command line all the time. Open a terminal session and switch to the directory where SmartGit has been extracted then initialize it like a C++ program (or similar) like this.

If for any reason SmartGit does not initialize, go back and make sure the path to the JRE is correct and all terminal entries are correct. If all went well then we should be looking at the SmartGit start screen. To install the quick launcher just repeat the steps in the terminal but this time use the add-menuitem.sh file and it will put an icon on the desktop for you.

On the initial start up, there will be an option for where the Git account to associate with is located. This is something that will either be already set up or will need to be. The rest is to just select all the default values given. Once all that is done, then just work your way around the interface and relax because all those typing lines just became simple mouse clicks. Fast, fun and easy just the way we like it. : ) 

REMEMBER: Git is best used for programming files when revision control is really important. It CAN be used as a replacement for Google Drive or Dropbox, but it’s not recommended and even the GitHub website states that it is NOT intended to be used in the same capacity, hence the reason they only allocate 1G to each account for free. 

The Overlooked Screenshot

 Well here's a neglected blog. I really had higher aspirations for this particular section, however it seems I've been overtly busy since starting it with school, a new job and now church. I'm here now and I have something to share that I've been wanting to jot down for a while now.

 Today I want to give a short tutorial on the screenshot.

 People who typically use screenshots are gamers to capture their scores to brag to their friends about their level achievements or to write how to get past a certain level. I'm here to say that the screenshot feature is probably one of the most overlooked power tools available to any computer user. I know there are many people out there who wish they could share what they see on the computer screen with friends or family via email or some sort of communication only to end up with a feeling of dissatisfaction and disappointment because they have never been shown how to use it.

 First and foremost, I have to give credit where credit is due to my oldest friend David over at SterryIT for showing me how to do this on a Windows operating system. In turn I showed a few people over at the old cookie factory that I worked how much easier it was to send a picture of my failed computer vs. a lengthy semi-descriptive email. Before long, everyone was sending more pictures than text through the mail system. This just goes to show that a picture is definitely worth more than a thousand words.

 A screenshot is nothing more than capturing the image that is being represented on the screen. It makes no difference what is being rendered or where it is being rendered from. I use the process daily and have been for years to do all kinds of things from email tech support a picture of a system error notification to a work around for capturing PDF locked books from the University I attend. If it shows on the screen, it can be captured and saved.

 The best part about this is there is no special software to be installed and it is really easy to do. In this short article I'm going to cover how to do it in both Windows and in Linux. Believe it or not, it is even easier in Linux than Windows and I'll explain why later. So for now just follow along.

For Windows:


 On a Windows system, with anything on the screen to be captured press the "Print Screen" key. This is going to capture everything that is on the screen and temporarily place it on the clipboard. Now just simply open the "Paint" program and select new then paste. The entire screen of the Paint program will fill with the image captured just as it is seen by the monitor. Everything that was visible on the screen now is a picture that can be edited, modified, emailed or whatever.


 To go one step farther in the process, hold down Ctrl+Alt+PrintScreen and only the image of the top most window will be captured to the clipboard. This is particularly handy for capturing those system pop-ups and such items for use or reference later; It's a short cut to cropping and pasting with the Paint editor.

For Linux:


 These instructions work on both Ubuntu and openSUSE since it is in both of them that I have most of my experience.


 In these two Linux OS the process is made even simpler. With whatever a person wants to capture is on the screen, press "Print Screen" and a new window will open with a view of the captured image and options on what the user wants to do with it. This is a small program that is pre-installed in both systems and initiated by default. Most Linux users are already savvy enough to figure this out if they have chosen to use Linux as their primary OS, so I don't think there is much need to describe the program any farther.

 That's pretty much it. As I stated before, being able to capture what is shown on the screen is a very powerful tool if used properly. For anyone who has tried to use the right click "Save As" function built into browsers only to get shut down by a lot of image sites, you'll love this little trick. The entire operation runs through the OS which makes it independent of any browser scripts disabling an image save functionality. Now that I have explained this little tip to people, please be cautious of how you use it. Remember that some people work hard on their artwork and stuff like that and try to show it online without being ripped off so just use good sense when copying images from the net.