DeskSpace 1.5.6.2 includes the following minor bug fixes and compatibility improvements:

• New Feature – The order of windows in the taskbar is now maintained (as much as possible) when switching between desktops.
• New Feature – DeskSpace now includes an Italian localization.
• New Feature – When first run, DeskSpace now automatically detects the operating system language.
• New Feature – Improved desktop cube activation speed.
• New Feature – Improved desktop switching speed when switching to a desktop with the same wallpaper.
• New Feature – DeskSpace now handles hung and crashed applications better than before.
• New Feature – Improved compatibility with MailWasher Pro, Propellerhead Reason, Steam, Tencent Traveler, and XemiCo Desktop Calendar.
• New Feature – The DeskSpace system tray menu has been tweaked to make the desktop names and pictures more visible.
• Bug Fix – Reduced desktop icon flashing when switching to a desktop.
• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where an incorrect string was displayed in file selection dialogs.
• Bug Fix – Under Windows 7 is is now possible to drag windows to another desktop using the bottom edge of the screen.
• Bug Fix – Due to new mouse behavior in Windows 7 the middle mouse button did not always work.
• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where the desktop selector combo box background was displayed incorrectly on computers using the Silver Windows XP theme.
• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where some applications could not be clicked on in the Manage Desktop Windows applications list.
• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where pressing the activation hot key plus an arrow key very quickly caused DeskSpace to stay in the desktop cube view until the space bar/escape/middle mouse button was pressed/clicked.
• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where the default DeskSpace settings were sometimes corrupted when DeskSpace was first run.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, and visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.6.2.

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• Explain what you like and don’t like about the application.
• Describe what features you’d like to see and any improvements you think could be made.

• Incompatibility with games and other full screen 3D accelerated applications.
• Non-traditional Alt-Tab behavior while using Flip layout.
• Error messages when running TopDesk at startup.
• TopDesk failing to run after resuming from standby or unlocking.
• TopDesk failing to run under a non-administrator user account.
• Problems using the mouse scroll wheel during tiling.
• Desktop wallpaper changes not being detected.

For everyone interested in what we’ve added in TopDesk 1.5, the new features are:

• Improved Game Compatibility – TopDesk now automatically disables itself when other full screen 3D accelerated applications are open.
• Traditional Alt-Tab Switching In Flip Layout – TopDesk now supports traditional Alt-Tab switching between the two frontmost windows while using Flip layout.
• Reduced Memory Usage – TopDesk now stores data in video memory where possible, which means it uses far less system memory.
• Improved Video Card Compatibility – TopDesk is now runs on more lower-end video cards.
• Improved Application Compatibility – TopDesk now works with more applications.
• Compatibility With Non-Administrator User Accounts – TopDesk now runs under non-administrator user accounts.
• Improved Disable Behavior – TopDesk hot keys are now available for use by other applications while TopDesk is disabled.
• Configuration Minimized Window Transparency – Minimized window transparency can now be turned on or off.
• Configurable Restart Window Enumeration – TopDesk can now enumerate only visible windows when it starts/restarts, preventing minimized windows from appearing while resuming/unlocking a computer.
• Configurable “No Windows To Tile Or Hide” Warning – The “beep” TopDesk sounds when no windows are available to tile or hide can now be turned on or off.
• Bug Fix – Other applications are now prevented from stealing focus while TopDesk is tiling windows.
• Bug Fix – The mouse scroll wheel now works when tiling is activated using mouse hotspots.
• Bug Fix – TopDesk no longer crashes when Explorer crashes.
• Bug Fix – TopDesk no longer exits with an error message when delayed by other applications at system startup.
• Bug Fix – TopDesk now works better when locking/unlocking, resuming from standby or hibernation, and when using Remote Desktop.
• Bug Fix – Desktop wallpaper changes are now always correctly detected.
• Bug Fix – Hebrew/Arabic language windows are now displayed correctly.
• Bug Fix – The ESC key now cancels selection in Flip layout.
• Bug Fix – TopDesk now uses less CPU while disabled.
• Bug Fix – The window tile window title font size is now displayed correctly in Options dialog.

Edit: We’ve now filled all the places in the beta. I’d like to thank everyone for all the interest in the TopDesk 1.5 beta test, and apologize to those users who missed out.

That changed today when I stumbled across The NeoSmart Files and found a blog post that describes how they’d managed to rally the troops and badger the Mozilla developers into finally fixing the problem. According to Neosmart, the fix is included in the latest versions of Firefox 1.5.x and 2.0. After testing both versions out with TopDesk I haven’t been able to reproduce the issue, so it seems to be gone for good.

While it’s great to see a community band together to get something done, it’s a bit disturbing to see the Mozilla developers leave such a show-stopper of a bug (and one that’s in all of their software, not just Firefox) in their software for four years. While it’s not possible for them to fix all outstanding bugs in each new version for Firefox, you’d think that something like not being able to copy and paste would be a serious enough issue to warrant their attention.

While we’re on the subject of Firefox bugs, I’m still looking for a proper fix for the bug that causes the “Find” bar to open automatically. Has anyone found a solution to this problem?