DeskSpace 1.5.7.2 has been released. This version includes minor bug fixes and compatibility improvements:

• Bug Fix – DeskSpace no longer displays a white border around the screen when the “Smooth Cube Edges” option is used with a static desktop cube background image.
• Bug Fix – The desktop cube no longer displays previously configured wallpapers when desktop wallpaper management is disabled.
• Bug Fix – The taskbar no longer pops up when switching to a desktop with no windows with taskbar autohide enabled.
• Bug Fix – Added compatibility with Stickies from Zhorn Software.
• Bug Fix – DeskSpace now supports different Windows Photo Gallery wallpapers on each desktop.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.7.2, and visit the Help page to upgrade to DeskSpace 1.5.7.2.

DeskSpace 1.5.7.1 has been released. This version includes minor bug fixes and compatibility improvements:

• New Feature – The DeskSpace Japanese and French localizations have been updated.
• Bug Fix – Dragging and dropping windows in the DeskSpace system tray menu caused the menu to move vertically on some computers. We’ve added a workaround to prevent this.
• Bug Fix – The DeskSpace system tray menu no longer displays a separator bar in the wrong position if there are no windows on Desktop 1.
• Bug Fix – Switching to windows on other desktops via the DeskSpace system tray menu now uses the correct zoom.
• Bug Fix – The DeskSpace system tray icon tooltip is now correctly updated when a window is dragged to another desktop.
• Bug Fix – The desktop name and picture OSD is now correctly updated on all monitors (this bug was introduced in DeskSpace 1.5.7).

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.7.1, and visit the Help page to upgrade to DeskSpace 1.5.7.1.

I’m happy to announce that DeskSpace 1.5.7 has been released.

The main focus of this release is the DeskSpace system tray menu (i.e. the menu accessed by right-clicking on the DeskSpace icon in the system tray). The major change to this menu is that it’s now possible to move windows between desktops by dragging and dropping them in the menu:

A “Show Desktop Cube” menu item has been added for users who don’t like to press and hold CTRL+WIN, and we’ve also made more space for the desktop and window menu items. We’ve done this by grouping windows that appear on all desktops under an “All Desktops” category, and grouping the DeskSpace options and “Manage Desktop” menu items into sub-menus:

Another addition is the Configure On-Screen Display dialog, which allows you to turn on/off the display of the desktop name and picture when the desktop cube is shown (this will hopefully make forum user docdic happy!), and to specify the monitor(s) the desktop name and picture will appear on and the position they will appear at:

We’ve also made some improvements to desktop switching speed, improved the speed at which the Manage Desktop Icons dialog appears, added a “Remove Picture” button to the Manage Desktop Names and Pictures dialog, and added a workaround for problematic Windows start up programs like the ATI Catalyst Control Center.

Finally, by default we turn off dragging windows to other desktops when DeskSpace is running on Windows 7, since some Windows 7 features already use the screen edges, and users can now move windows between desktops using the DeskSpace system tray menu.

I hope you enjoy this new version of DeskSpace, and from everyone at Otaku Software we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

DeskSpace 1.5.7 contains the following additions and improvements:

• New Feature – Windows can be moved to other desktops by dragging and dropping them in the DeskSpace System Tray Menu.
• New Feature – Applications that appear on all desktops are now grouped under the “All Desktops” heading in the DeskSpace System Tray Menu.
• New Feature – DeskSpace can now be activated via the “Show Desktop Cube” menu item in the DeskSpace System Tray Menu.
• New Feature – The DeskSpace System Tray menu is now more compact, leaving more space to display desktops and their windows.
• New Feature – It’s now possible to remove a user-generated picture from the Manage Desktop Names and Pictures dialog.
• New Feature – The new Configure On-Screen Display dialog lets you to choose whether to display the desktop name and picture on screen when the desktop cube is shown.
• New Feature – DeskSpace now switches between desktops faster.
• Bug Fix – DeskSpace now tries to avoid any conflicts with video card utilities (e.g. ATI Catalyst Control Center) when Windows is booting up.
• Bug Fix – The Manage Desktop Icons dialog now appears much faster.
• Bug Fix – Dragging windows to other desktops is now disabled by default in Windows 7, as it conflicts with built-in Windows 7 functionality.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, and visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.7.

An enterprising software engineer, Kenneth Brandon, has written software that allows DeskSpace to be controlled by a Nintendo Wii Remote control. You can check out a video of it in action below (skip to 1:05 to see DeskSpace):

After seeing the DeskSpace Wikipedia page languish for most of 2009 with numerous inaccuracies (e.g. it does *not* require DirectX 9, it’ll run just fine on DirectX 8.1 thank you very much, and it is *not* usually distributed as a .ZIP file), I decided to take matters into my own hands and update the page myself.

Big. Mistake.

One of the Wikipedia Powers-That-Be, Wikipedia administrator Orange Mike, came down on me like a ton of bricks and blocked me from editing the page (and any other page on Wikipedia). Now, I understand that the founder of Otaku Software editing the DeskSpace Wikipedia page is seen by Orange Mike as a conflict of interest (ironic, given his history), and if that’s how he wants to police the DeskSpace Wikipedia page then that’s fine.

I also have no intention of getting involved in a long, drawn-out fight over something as silly as a web page, and I’d much rather spend my time spent helping the Otaku Software team cook up new versions of DeskSpace and TopDesk for our fantastic users, so I’m not going to appeal the block.

However, it worries me is that there’s inaccurate information on the DeskSpace Wikipedia page and I have no way to correct the mistakes. As an example, the DeskSpace Wikipedia page stated that DeskSpace requires DirectX 9. Despite it clearly stating that DeskSpace requires DirectX 8.1 on our system requirements page, and despite my *cited* changes to the DeskSpace Wikipedia page to reflect this, the page has since been changed back to state that DeskSpace requires DirectX 9.

I know I’m nitpicking, but what’s the point of having DeskSpace on Wikipedia if the information isn’t accurate, and what’s the point Wikipedia administrators policing edits if they’re not going to ensure the correctness of an article? Wikipedia is a great tool, but it’s all too easy for a topic to suffer because editors either can’t be bothered or simply don’t care enough to verify its accuracy.

At the moment I’m at a complete loss as to how I can fix this sad state of affairs, so if anyone has any advice on the best way to ensure the DeskSpace Wikipedia page is up-to-date and accurate then I’d really like to hear from you.

DeskSpace 1.5.6.3 has been released. It contains the following additions and improvements:

• Bug Fix – Fixed a bug where DeskSpace would sometimes crash on activation after the computer was unlocked or returned from standby, or after a screen saver was canceled.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, and visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.6.3.

DeskSpace 1.5.6.2 has been released. The main new feature in this version is one that many users have been asking for for a long time – the ability to maintain the order of windows in the taskbar when you switch between desktops.

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.

DeskSpace 1.5.6.1 has been released. This version includes minor bug fixes and compatibility improvements:

• New Feature – Improved compatibility with Windows Sidebar.
• Bug Fix – All window filters are now saved correctly.
• Bug Fix – When dragging windows on multi-monitor systems, DeskSpace now correctly recognizes all screen edges.
• Bug Fix – When activating the desktop cube via middle mouse click or a mouse hot spot, the cube no longer zoom outs and then immediately zooms back in.
• Bug Fix – It is now possible to hide the desktop cube by releasing the activation hot key in the situation where, with DeskSpace configured to not show the desktop cube when the activation hot key was pressed, the activation hot key is pressed and the desktop cube is then shown by pressing an arrow key.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, and visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.6.1.

We’ve just released DeskSpace 1.5.6. This version includes a completely revamped desktop management UI, and adds the ability to choose a name and picture for each desktop. Desktop names and pictures appear throughout DeskSpace, including the desktop cube view:

They also appear in the DeskSpace system tray menu:

and in the desktop management dialogs. You can choose a name and picture for each desktop using the new Manage Desktop Names and Pictures dialog:

We’ve updated the desktop management dialogs to reflect the new Windows Vista/7 graphical style, and we’ve worked hard to improve the usability of each dialog:

The full list of new features and bug fixes in DeskSpace 1.5.6 is as follows:

• New Feature – You can now assign a name and picture to each desktop.
• New Feature – Desktop management user interfaces have been completely revamped with improved usability and a Windows Vista/7 graphical style.
• New Feature – You can now switch to a desktop by clicking on it in the DeskSpace system tray menu.
• New Feature – Added built-in English (UK), French, German, Spanish, and Japanese language support.
• New Feature – You can now turn off recognition of Command Line and CygWin windows (improves performance).
• New Feature – Changing graphical settings (e.g. the background image or sky box) is now much faster.
• New Feature – Improved graphical performance.
• Bug Fix – The delay in displaying the desktop cube that occurred after returning from a screensaver, standby, or after unlocking the computer has been completely eliminated.
• Bug Fix – DeskSpace is now fully compatible with Windows 7 desktop wallpapers.
• Bug Fix – Improved compatibility with Yahoo! Widgets.
• Bug Fix – Improved compatibility with World of Warcraft.
• Bug Fix – DeskSpace now correctly loads all language localization files.
• Bug Fix – Switching between languages is now much faster.
• Bug Fix – Fixed graphical animation glitch that occurred when moving to the bottom of the desktop cube.
• Bug Fix – The cube reflection now fades out much sooner when moving to the bottom of the desktop cube.

You can visit the DeskSpace page to find out more about DeskSpace, and visit the Online Store to buy DeskSpace 1.5.6.

We’re busy working on DeskSpace 1.5.6 and hope to release it in the near future. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak at one of the new features in 1.5.6, named desktops: