gHacks technology news » bumptop http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Windows Desktop Alternative BumpTop http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/09/windows-desktop-alternative-bumptop/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/09/windows-desktop-alternative-bumptop/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:33:21 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=11820 bumptopRemember BumpTop? We covered a tech demo of the 3D desktop technology back in 2006 and felt that it could be a great way of helping the user bring order to the desktop chaos. Unlike other projects of this kind this one was developed into a product that is now available as a free and pro version for the Windows desktop. BumpTop replicates the look and feel of a real world desktop to the operating system. It looks pretty much like a three dimensional room on the computer screen. Elements on that new desktop are easier identified as their standard Windows desktop counterparts because of a few techniques like showing a thumbnail image of photos instead of an icon of the image format. File previews are not limited to images only. BumpTop will also display the contents of Spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations or PDFs directly on the desktop.

Icons can also be piled up on the BumpTop desktop easily. It is for example possible to create a pile of all Word documents or photos on the desktop. They can also be fanned out quickly to see what files it contains. The pro version adds flipping through the pile with the scroll wheel to that. Icon sizes can be altered manually to give them more room on the desktop which makes it easier to identify them. The pro version will grow popular files automatically.

The search as you type feature will identify matching icons on the computer desktop instantly and it only takes the enter key to open them. Other options include sorting them or bundling them together no matter where they are located on the desktop. Icons can also be tossed around or pinned to walls.

computer desktop

Tossing icons around on the desktop applies to interfaces as well. Tossing a document on the printer will print it while tossing a photo on the Facebook icon will upload it to the web portal. Facebook, Twitter and Email are currently supported by BumpTop. Several other features can be accessed like adding photo RSS feeds to the desktop or utilizing the capabilities of touch-screen interfaces.

BumpTop is fun to play around with. It does take some practice to get used to the new interface though. It is a well thought out Windows desktop alternative.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/09/windows-desktop-alternative-bumptop/feed/ 3 The Desktop of the Future http://www.ghacks.net/2006/09/18/the-desktop-of-the-future/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/09/18/the-desktop-of-the-future/#comments Mon, 18 Sep 2006 09:05:04 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2006/09/18/the-desktop-of-the-future/ This is a video from the dynamic graphics project at the University of Toronto named: Keeping it Real: Pushing the Desktop Metaphor with Physics, Piles and the Pen in BumpTop. Big title, ain’t it ? What they did is project the concept of the normal desktop, the real one not the one from your computer to your computer by making it 3 dimensional. Files are shown as three dimensional items as well that can be placed on top of each other, sorted, deleted and manipulated manifold.

You can pin files on walls, make them bigger to give them more weight and importance (smaller files have troubles moving bigger files). Everything looks really intuitive, easy and strangely familiar. Will everyone be using this kind of 3D desktops in the future or will this remain what it is right now, an experiment..

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