February 16, 2010

Press Contact:
Alex Fadeyev
Public Relations Manager
press@actualtools.com
Actual Tools

Efficient Multi-monitor Windows

Actual Tools, the leading provider of desktop productivity software, today announces Actual Multiple Monitors - the unique set of productivity tools aimed to enhance the usability of Windows user interface when working with multiple monitors.

KRASNOYARSK, Russia - February 2010: Multiple display PC configurations become more and more popular. Multi-monitor systems are already highly appreciated by software developers, web designers, call center operators, online traders, stockbrokers and many other professionals, who extensively use their PC every day - greater usability and increased work productivity given by the expanded real screen estate justify the cost of extra display units.

However, this medal has a reverse: larger screen estate allows having more windows open at once so that you have to manage them in some way. And it is discovered soon enough that general Windows window management subsystem provides just the very basic support for multiple monitors and does not have proper tools for a multi-monitor environment:

  • there is no standard service such as Windows Taskbar to manage windows located on secondary displays - you cannot quickly minimize, restore, or activate any particular window via its Taskbar button without having to move the mouse to the primary display
  • with no Taskbar, on secondary displays you have no access to such essential controls as Start Menu, notification area or additional toolbars (like Quick Launch, Desktop, Address, Windows Media Player, etc.) - which again means moving the mouse to the primary display each time you need to launch some program from the Start Menu, click some icon in the notification area or operate any toolbar (and don't forget that you need to drag your mouse back to the display you were currently working with!)
  • when you switch tasks using Alt-Tab, the Task Switcher service window is displayed on the primary display only, which is quite distracting if your current attention is on a secondary display
  • there is no quick way to move a window to a certain monitor or to maximize a window over the entire composite desktop if such need arises

All these issues result in much more "mousing": just imagine three monitors 1600x1200 each, aligned horizontally - and you need to drag the mouse from the rightmost monitor you are currently working on to the leftmost primary monitor and back several times an hour! It's highly increases the work load on your mouse-operating hand and may lead to a repetitive strain injury (RSI). At last, it's simply annoying and distracting, and even the new Windows 7 does not address all of these things properly.

Actual Multiple Monitors has been developed to eliminate these drawbacks and let users get the full advantage of expanded real screen estate and make the work smooth and effective. The program is the first product on the market which brings the following unique tools:

  • a full copy of Taskbar on each secondary display with all indispensable controls (Start Menu, notification area and toolbars) gives the familiar way to operate windows and control the system from any display, no matter primary or secondary. It's needless to say that each such copy looks native in any visual theme - from Windows Classic to Windows 7 Aero!
  • a copy of Task Switcher on all secondary displays prevents distractions when switching tasks
  • additional Move to Monitor button in each window's title bar allows you quickly place any window onto a certain monitor in a single click
  • right click on regular Maximize button will expand a window over the entire composite desktop (the second such click will restore a window to its previous position/size)

Even that would have been enough to make Actual Multiple Monitors a must-have for each multi-monitor owner but the program also has many additional features:

  • Desktop Profiles Manager allows creating and storing various desktop configurations (including relative layout of displays, their properties like resolution, color depth, refresh rate) and switching between them in a single click
  • Easy Windows Dragging/Sizing lets move or size a window by grabbing it by any point (with no need to hit exactly the title bar or 2-pixels wide window frame)
  • Window Snapping sticks borders of dragged/sized window to such visual limits as desktop boundaries or other windows and lets you perfectly align windows side-by-side without over-scrupulous mouse manipulations
  • Desktop Icons Manager keeps the order of icons on your desktop for any desktop configuration/resolution and can restore it after the icons were messed (the larger your desktop - the more icons you may have on it and the more time you may spend restoring their order manually)
  • Multi-monitor Wallpaper/Screen Saver brings the ability either to stretch a single picture/screen saver over the entire desktop (providing an impression of seamless workspace) or assign an individual picture/screen saver to each monitor (letting distinguish displays better)

All these features combined in a single product make Actual Multiple Monitors an outstanding toolkit which may increase the effectiveness of a multi-monitor Windows setup several times!

Actual Multiple Monitors runs on any edition of Windows since Windows 2000. It is one of few Windows-enhancing applications that seamlessly operate native 64-bit programs running on Windows x64 platform and surely one of even fewer that allow the extended manipulations with console windows (also known as command prompt windows).

Pricing and Availability

Actual Multiple Monitors runs on all Windows® platforms since Windows 2000 (including 64-bit editions) and costs $29.95 (USD) for a single-user license. Discounts for volume buyers are available (please, refer to http://www.actualtools.com/multiplemonitors/order/#volume_discounts). Additional information on Actual Multiple Monitors, a collection of tutorial articles and success stories, as well as a 30-day evaluation copy is available from http://www.actualtools.com/.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Please, let us know if you have questions or would like any additional information on Actual Multiple Monitors. Contact Alex Fadeyev at press@actualtools.com. A free registration key is available upon request to all editors considering a review. IT reviewers are encouraged to use this press release and any other related materials.

Product page link: http://www.actualtools.com/multiplemonitors/
Download link: http://www.actualtools.com/files/ammsetup.exe
Company website: http://www.actualtools.com/
E-mail: press@actualtools.com
Press Center: http://www.actualtools.com/press/