- January 03, 12

A new version of WindowTabs is available for download.

* reduced CPU and memory utilization, increased responsiveness
* added the "WindowTabs Manager" for choosing which applications are tabbed - now it's possible to add tabs to only certain applications and leave all others un-tabbed
* add an MSI Installer option for download, adds a shortcut and makes upgrading easier
* converted WindowTabsSettings.bin to a human readable text format WindowTabsSettings.txt

- December 26, 11

A new version of WindowTabs is available for download.

* added the ability to rename tabs
* improved tab text rendering quality (using ClearCase to render text)
* switched to a Year.Month.Day.Revision format for version numbers in the "Version" window.
* added an icon to the WindowTabs.exe
* fixed a bug which can cause the drag animation to "hang" on screen after dropping a window.

- December 20, 11

I have made a new release of WindowTabs, checkout the download page for installation instructions (it's just a single exe). I've also updated the features page to describe some of the newer features (taskbar integration, tab customization). In addition to the new release, I have setup a uservoice forum for WindowTabs. I am pretty excited to start collecting feedback here. For product updates and other news, I will be posting to this blog and also to the new WindowTabs twitter account.

- December 19, 11

This version includes several improvements and changes:

Installation

  • WindowTabs requires 32 or 64 bit Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
  • Download WindowTabs.exe and save it anywhere.
  • Run WindowTabs.exe, you should see tabs appear on your windows and an icon added to your system tray. This makes no changes to your system (registry key, shortcuts etc).
  • WindowTabs will save its settings (license key, filter list etc) into a file named "WindowTabsSettings.bin" which will be created in the same folder as WindowTabs.exe.

Trial Limit

As in the release version (v650), there is a three tab limit and no time limit or expiration. Any valid WindowTabs license key will activate this beta version and allow unlimited tabs per group.

Features

Most features are accesible through the tab context menu, right click on any tab to see the menu:
Context Menu
  • Shrink tabs: Display only the icons of the tabs in this group:
    • Before Shrink:
    Before Shrink After Shrink:
    After Shrink
  • Align tabs: Align the tabs to the left, center or right of the window titlebar:
    • Left:
    Center:
    Right:
  • Minimize windows: Minimize all the windows in the group. The windows stay grouped together and can be restored from the taskbar like normal.
  • Filter 'chrome': Filter the process for the tab, in this example its a Chrome.exe window. Filtering a process means that the process will not have a tab added to it.
  • Filter...: Opens the filter list, you can manually enter new processes to filter or delete items from the list by selecting an item and pressing the delete key.
  • Version...: Display the WindowTabs version, this is a timestamp of when the version was created.
  • Close WindowTabs: Shuts down the WindowTabs.exe process, saves any settings which have changed.

- November 01, 11

This release includes integration with the Windows 7 taskbar / preview. This is an important new feature and I think it will make WindowTabs much more useful on Windows 7. Here is a video which demonstrates how the Windows 7 Taskbar reflects your tabbed groups, allowing you to quickly preview and select a tabbed window.

Also in this version, you can use "CTRL + W" to show or hide tabs for a window or window group. Note that this beta version expires December 1st. Get the latest beta from download section and let me know what you think.

- October 31, 11

Fixed: Closed Outlook windows reappear when WindowTabs is shutdown. Fixed: Tab groups do not come to the top when activated from the taskbar. Install WindowTabs (v650)

- October 25, 11

Fixed: PuTTY windows are not correctly resized within a tab group (thanks Oliver!)
Install WindowTabs (v645)

- October 07, 11

Some of you have been experiencing a problem where your windows will rapidly flip between each other, particularly when the tabbed group is maximized. I just released a new version which should resolve this issue. The "transition" between maximized windows is still a little ugly but you shouldn't experience the rapid "flicker". I do plan on making the transition between maximized windows much smoother in a subsequent release.

- October 05, 11

I wanted to get this fix out as soon as it was ready because its a pretty annoying bug. This release fixes an issue where Microsoft Outlook windows would not close - or they would close and then immediately reopen. This would happen, for example, after you sent an email. Get the fix from the download page.

- October 04, 11

Hello Friends!

I'm making great progress on the new WindowTabs. This release is way better than the previous one - if you're following the beta, its well worth the time to upgrade!

Fixed issues w/ maximized windows

If you dragged tabs into a maximized window, you would end up with a window that was "frozen" in the maximized position until you giggled it around. This is fixed and there should be no problem with maximized windows now aside from a little ugly flicker which I will get to down the road.

Smarter handling of minimized windows

Minimized windows were getting pulled out of the group - no fun. Now, minimized windows stay in your tab group which means you can go through and minimize the whole group if you want (I'll probably add a shortcut for that by right clicking on a tab)

Lighter on your CPU

I'm constantly looking for ways to reduce the footprint in terms of both memory and CPU. In this release, I filtered out a bunch of noisy, wasteful messages from the Windows OS - for you this means less CPU usage especially when you are launching new windows .

Other nice changes

  • Added a right click context menu to the tabs
  • Added a close button on the tab
  • Added nicer tab highlighting (mouse hover, window focus)
  • Hide the tabs correctly when you move or resize a CMD window

As usual, get the latest beta from download section and please let me know if you run into any problems!

- September 17, 11

Sorry for the long delay in updates but I'm back. I've been working on a rewrite of WindowTabs and I'd like to share a "sneak peek" of it today, please give it a try and let me know what you think. I'll be posting weekly updates to the blog. If you use a blog reader, here is the RSS. It's a single file, no installer just download it and run. Download WindowTabs Beta

- October 09, 09

By default, WindowTabs only shows a taskbar button for the active window in each tabbed group. This works well for some people but others have asked for a way to show all windows in the taskbar. Now you can control this behavior, here's how:

This feature is a work in progress. There are some exciting new capabilities with the Windows 7 "SuperBar" that I will take advantage of over the next few weeks to provide much smarter taskbar grouping and integration.

- October 05, 09

You work with a lot of open email windows at once and your desktop gets cluttered with open windows, making it harder to multitask and stay productive -- the solution is WindowTabs.

WindowTabs lets you group your Outlook email, task, calendar and other windows together into logical groups with a simple drag-and-drop interface. Use WindowTabs to organize your email windows, documents, spreadsheets, development tools, chat windows and many other applications.

After you have organized your windows, WindowTabs continues to support you by providing advanced features like auto-grouping, filtering, auto-hiding and seamless multi-monitor support.

WindowTabs lets you:

  • Combine windows from different applications into tabbed groups
  • Organize your desktop using a simple drag and drop interface
  • Free up space on your Taskbar so you can work with more open windows
  • Easily drag and drop files between tabbed windows
  • Find and switch between windows quickly with keyboard shortcuts
  • Automatically group windows from the same process
  • Configure filtering rules for tabbing your applications

Who needs WindowTabs?

You do if you’ve ever:

  • Wanted to organize your Outlook email windows into tabbed groups
  • Suffered from a desktop and Taskbar cluttered with too many open windows
  • Needed a program to help you logically organize your windows into more manageable groups

See how you can use WindowTabs to organize Microsoft Outlook

- September 02, 09

I often move maximized windows from one monitor to another as I work on different tasks. WindowTabs make this easier by allowing me to drag and drop maximized windows between monitors instead of having to restore, move, maximize. It's a little thing but it makes for a more fluid window management experience.

- September 01, 09

WindowTabs can be overwhelming if you have lots of windows open - all those tabs sprouting up can be a little distracting. The new Auto Hide feature streamlines WindowTabs by hiding tabs on inactive and maximized windows. The tabs are shown when you:
  • move your mouse over a tab area
  • move your mouse to the top of the screen (for maximized windows)
  • drag a window tab
  • switch windows in a tabbed group

- June 12, 09

It took longer than I expected, but WindowTabs now supports all command prompt windows:

© 2012 WindowTabs