HowTo Alt+Tab in Style

[NewDeli]

You probably have noticed it is now necessary to click to give the focus back to WinUAE window.
And before that, the beta would have minor issues with Alt+tab.
That's why I tried to come up with alternate Alt+tab options.
I am using a MS mouse and this short How-To requires some adjustments made in the Intellipoint enhanced control panel element.
You might find similar options under Logitech's, but I didn't check that out. Also, I assume that :

• Host OS is Windows Vista or Se7en
• Graphic adapter is Aero capable
• Your mouse has 5+ buttons
• You plan to Alt+Tab from the Workbench (or games, but I don't myself play from a window, not even a "full" one), in Full-window mode

When one installs the latest Intellipoint drivers, he will notice the wheel button is assigned to Simultaneous View. I usually modify that, since it should be assigned to "automatic scrolling" (I translate this a bit litterally may be, sorry). Well, we're going to assign it again, specifically to WinUAE. To do that, one needs to tick "Activate programs specific parameters" and click on parameters.

Add... WinUAE, and assign far left button to simultaneous view. Use the direction keys + enter to give focus to any application.
Far right is assigned to F12 here, but "showing the GUI" can be assigned from within WinUAE.

That leaves us with the wheel button. Choose "Start... (Custom)" and enter ' "rundll32.exe" DwmApi #105 '.
Wow, cryptic ! In win32 API language, it simply means "activate Flip3D".
Use mousewheel one notch down & leftclick button to give focus to the next window "underneath" WinUAE.

Now, for the strange part (or else, it wouldn't be a Deli's HowTo ).
With Flip3D, it's uneasy to choose an application window, except if it's full screen.
For example, if I try to focus on Winamp to skip a song, it would effectively switch to the desktop but barely give focus to Winamp narrow interface.
That's because the cursor is hidden in this mode, until you leftclick.
Well, I noticed it was possible to pinpoint the "coordinates" of these windows with the Windows Lens.

• Start the Lens ( not sure if this is not a Se7en exclusive)
• First click (or double-click) on the shortcut will start the lens, second click, the options menu bar
• Click on Options
• Tick "follow mouse cursor"

Now when you "Flip3D" windows away from WinUAE, move the cursor while keeping an eye on the Lens to reveal the relative center point of any window, and leftclick to give focus to that particular application.


Hope you liked it. Happy Alt+tabbing !