How-To Geek
Mac OSX Expose Clone for Windows Vista
Expose is an application on Mac OSX that tiles all the open windows with the press of a key, letting you quickly choose between them. Now there is finally a Mac OSX Expose clone application for Windows Vista that runs great! Not only that, but it’s open source, so you can improve it if you wanted to.
To install this application, you’ll have to run the setup application as well as the Visual C++ redistributable package, unless you have visual studio installed, which you probably don’t.
My Expose Download:
http://blogs.labo-dotnet.com/simon/archive/2006/11/08/11485.aspx
Visual C++ 2005 Redist package
Once you have it installed, you can just press the F9 key, and you’ll immediately be presented with a tiled view. If you have a video playing, it will continue to play in the tiled view.
If you move your mouse to the upper left hand corner of the screen, it will immediately tile all the windows. You can configure the hotspot or the hotkey with the tray icon, although it’s not the most user friendly dialog.
There is one feature that MyExpose does not have from the Mac version, and that’s to tile only the open windows of a particular application.
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Comments (55)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 02/11/07
Does this run on XP too, or just Vista?
Thanks!
Luke
this is a build-in-funktion if you are using the latest software for Microsofts mouses, intellipoint… just a click with the mouse and you get the same effect.
and it also works in xp :-)
This doesn’t work very well at all, unfortunately, if one is running dual monitors.
Awesome work, this is *exactly* what I’ve been wanting in Vista – 3D Flip just isn’t as good as Expose :) Thanks!
Wait, this is a built-in function only with Microsoft mice (using Intellipoint)???
Why would they offer this functionality only through intellipoint? I find Expose far more useful than flip3D.
Is there any way to run a non-microsoft mouse with Intellipoint and get this feature without installing this extra open-source software?
Thanks!
-Ryan
The article is not about the Intellipoint software. It’s true that the Intellipoint software offers a very similar feature now, although it’s not quite the same.
This utility is actually an attempt to clone Expose from Mac, and works no matter what mouse you are using.
Needs Aero to work :(
hey i don seem to find a way to install this….there is a file in MyExposeSetup…called MyExposeSetup.vdproj but its not openin i even installed the vcredist_x86 (C++ thing)…
“There is one feature that MyExpose does not have from the Mac version, and that’s to tile only the open windows of a particular application.”
This is a feature in OS X; it’s F10 on the keyboard.
It\’s a great and valuable site!e
I like Expose, but the balloon appearing constantly in the tray, and needing to be clicked for the balloon to closed is annoying.
hi. thanks for your hard work on a very needed plugin. i would like to let you know of a couple bugs i have found with it. one is the one someone else mentioned, where if there is no window present it has to be killed with task manager. the second bug i have found is when i launch a remote desktop session it seems to activate regardless of whether i have moused over the hot spot or pressed the hotkey.
i hope you continue to develop this utility it is fantastic already!
i downloaded the visual c ++ on my vista home premium and nothing happens when i press f9
Verry nice! Honestly i dont kno why anyone wud hav a problem installing this…it’s noob proof! It works real well and installation is easy. I dont use the F9 function as i preferr the curser-in-the-corner function. You dont have to use taskmanager to close it, just press F9 again….please keep developing more Vista mods cos they make vista life sooo much eaiser!…..If possible…..a magnifying toolbar just like Mac OS has!
Just tried it and its great. Thank you. Now where is my wobbly windows! haha
Just installed this on my Vista Ultimate. works great and I am glad that someone finally came up with something.
Thanks
Holy smooth!!! This is a beauty!! I can’t thank you guys enough
it works perfect. If you press the f9 key and nothing happens, try running the “MyExposeLauncher.exe” file in your programfiles.
God bless whoever made this for vista. 20 kissesessssseses!!!!
someone in the above posts mentioned that it need windows aero to work, does that mean aero glass(with transparency), or just the plain aero you have in home basic?
Does not work for me. Followed the directions fully. Does not work!
Impossible to run Expose under Windows XP :(
I’ve installed .net fw redist 3.0 (had VS 2005 previously installed)
Get error message:
” An unhandled exception of type ‘System.IO.FileNotFoundException’ occurred in PresentationFramework.dll
Additional information: Det gÃ¥r inte att hitta den angivna modulen. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E)”
I tried to register the PresentationFramework.dll in the GAC but that did not solve the problem. So any suggestions would be appriciated
Whats the difference between this and switcher? http://insentient.net/
Isn’t that just a clunkier version of the Vista SWITCH BETWEEN WINDOWS button on the QLB?
I’ve followed all the instructions carefully. When I press F9, the screen does dim but the windows do not tile whatsoever…
Does not work with custom vista themes (that technically are still aero-enabled.) Also is much choppier than flip3D.
for those who are running Windows XP, check out Top Desk from Otaku Software.
Crashes in Vista 64 :(
Yeah crashed in vista 64 :(
Thanks for this tool. Tested it on Windows Vista Ultimate. Some points that I noted and wanted to share
1. With a single window open, if you press F9, it dims the screen but makes the window look horrible.
2. When GTalk is running and is your current window and if u press F9, the default functionality of Gtalk gets executed and not that of Expose.
I am not sure if the above points can be fixed somehow or not but thought of sharing.
I recompiled the default project after installing the latest Windows SDK and I now have no crash on vista x64.
Where can we get the version that works with vista x64 ?
To get it working with 64 bit operating systems, I had to set the MyExposeLauncher Project Build Properties from “Any CPU” to “x86″. This gets rid of the startup runtime error that says it cannot find MyExpose.dll (Its something to do with MyExpose.dll being built for Win32 but MyExposeLauncher tries to run itself and all its assemblies as 64 bit, unless you tell it otherwise).
doesn’t work, it says: MyExposeLauncher doesn’t work anymore
Look for Switcher at http://insentient.net/. Someone took the MyExpose code and made something really nice and pretty polished. It works with works with 32 and 64 bit and it has a search feature that has me using it constantly. PS, I found this after tinkering with MyExpose.
awesome little utility dude. installed easily and works beautifully. thanks for sharing your work with us.
Is there any way to set active corners? Perfect application. Thank you!
Is it right that it dosen’t work for Vista Home Basic?? I can’t get it to work… The screen just turn light grey and nothing more…??
Dipper:
Is it right that it dosen’t work for Vista Home Basic?? I can’t get it to work… The screen just turn light grey and nothing more…??
This uses Aero to get the window snapshots. Vista Home Basic doesn’t come with Aero. So no it will not work with Vista Home Basic.
yeah, is it right that it doesn’t work for vista home basic?? because mine as well, the screen turned light grey/black and nothing more.
well does switcher works on vista home basic?? i’ve tried and it turned grey as well. =(
Hey i’ve installed and followed all the steps and it works great for me i have windows vista ultimate.YEAH BABY
i have vista premium on my laptop. i’ve followed everything but still my expose launcher is not working. does vista glazz have anything to do with this? coz i have it installed as well
it dont work…all i know is, i have vista (the cheapest one i believe) and im STILL pressing f9 ugh
I appreciate the developer’s effort in creating this. I just don’t see a compelling reason to prefer it over 3D flip. It doesn’t enhance my productivity at all.
Ok can someone walk me thru this install process
I have windows Vista Home premium
I have downloaded from both links according to the instructions and when I go to the
Setup file I noticed that the extension is not an EXE or MSI
or more than 3 leters so kindly explains what I should do!
Hmm ok I also had a similar problem after I downloaded and installed both My Expose installer and the redist package. After everything was installed, I pressed F9, nothing. I moved my mouse to the top left, nothing. So I simply searched for expose on MyComp and…well…i started up the app called MyExpose. So, for me, it did not start up right away after the installation. Works fine now =D By the way, I’m running Vista Ultimate with a custom Aero glass(or was it glossy?) theme. Hmm one more thing, I’m running Vista on my MacBook through bootcamp and simply hitting F9 won’t do; have to hit fn+F9 =/
This is what Alt-Tab meant to be starting with Windows 2.0. God bless the generous soul who wrote this!
It works nice !
My suggestions:
1) It would be nice, if the user could return to main screen by typing the ESC-key.
2) typing any other key shoul be blocked if MyExpose is visible.
3.) Clicking in a non-mini-window-area should return to main screen.
Unfortunately, I’ve Quad monitors. No luck of having such advantage to make it work. Hope someone will able to help improve it in the near future. My Display card is AMD ATI based chipset.
For those of you who can’t open MyExpose:
I had that same problem, but then I downloaded the binary version and saved it to my desktop. I opened the file, and it started a wizard that installed MyExpose for me. Make sure to download the Redist Package, too.
forget MyExpose.
search Switcher for vista on google. problem solved.
thanks, this app is great. i have been using rocketdock to launch my programs lately and i don’t like having to use the taskbar to switch windows. i tried vista’s aero flip 3d but with multiple windows it takes a while to scroll through them all. this has really made things easier for me.
Nice idea. but wont’ work for me (vista home premium)
just tries to start and crashes.
The cursor in the corner part works for me, but for some reason the keyboard shortcut (F9) does not work and thats the main reason i wanted this. Anybody have any solutions? I’ve tried every function key and none of them work
website says 404 not found :-\
Switcher is still around. It believe it is built off of the MyExpose code, but it does a lot more:
http://insentient.net/
(This is my second post suggesting Switcher, but I am not affiliated with it in any way besides finding it and being a satisfied user. After using MyExpose I thought I would add a bunch of functionality to it, but then I found Switcher and it does everything I was going to implement, and then some).
Mac User:
Yes, that’s exactly what our friendly How-To-Geek said. It’s a function on the Mac and not on this software.