AquaSnap

One of my favorite daily e-mails is a newsletter from the How-To Geek (www.howtogeek.com). His how to’s on a myriad of subjects are invaluable but it’s his XP, Vista and Windows 7 free utilities I look forward to the most.

Recently he recommended AquaSnap a free utility for XP, Vista and Windows 7. I installed it on my XP and Vista computers and found it to be so useful I want to suggest you consider it.

One of Windows 7’s most significant new features is Aero Snap. It allows you to view windows side by side by simply dragging windows to the side of your screen. AquaSnap allows XP and Vista users to do the same and more.

When you install AquaSnap with its default settings, it’ll run in the background and install an icon in your Taskbar Notification area. You’ll then be able to drag any window to any edge or corner of your desktop with an icon to show you the part of the screen the window will cover.

As with Windows 7, if you drag a window to the side of the screen it will expanded the window to fill the right half of the screen. To restore its former size you simply drag the window away from its current location.

You can have four windows side-by-side by dragging windows to each corner or two windows by dragging one to the top and one on the bottom of your screen.

AquaSnap will also let you keep any window always on top. You simply shake any window and it’ll turn semi-transparent and stay on top of all other windows.

By right clicking on AquaSnap’s icon in your Notification area you can tweak its settings to:
1. Have AquaSnap to start with Windows and place an icon in your system tray.
2. Set what you want each snapping region to do. AeroSnap (which works like the default Aero Snap in Windows 7) or AquaSnap simple (which only snaps at the edges of the screen, not the corners).
3. Increase or decrease the opacity of pinned windows.
4. Use AquaShake to increase or decrease shaking sensitivity or use the standard AeroShake function that allows you to minimize all other open windows when you shake a window.
4. Activate AquaGlass an optional feature which makes your windows transparent when you drag them across the screen.
5. Change the color and opacity of the preview rectangle or turn it off.

AquaSnap particularly for XP and Vista users is well worth investigating.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.