Alt-Tab Replacement is a free Power Toy created by Microsoft that adds a live preview of the open windows to the Alt-Tab screen. Its Alt-Tab task switcher is a keyboard short-cut (hot-key) to enable fast switching between applications/windows. Alt-Tab Thingy is a replacement to add brand new features to help you switch tasks faster and more efficiently than ever before!

Overview:

Alt-Tab Thingy is a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) that enables fast switching between applications/ windows. This feature has been in Windows since Windows 3.0 and is largely unchanged since Windows ’95. Alt-Tab Thingy is a replacement that adds brand new features to help you switch tasks faster and more efficiently than ever before.

This shortcut allows us to switch faster between applications/windows. It is working great and it’s useful enough for most of us however what happens if we need to open a lot of windows at one time? We will need to press the Alt+Tab key combination until we reach a particular window. This will become annoying when many windows are opened for the same application
This is where Alt-Tab Thingy, the windows xp, vista and 7 alt tab replacements comes in to action. Shortly, this application performs the same thing with the classic Alt+Tab key combination in Windows but it offers you a lot of features which makes it more powerful and useful.

Features:

•    Use the cursor keys to make your selection
•    Use the mouse & mouse-wheel as well as the keyboard
•    System tray icon
•    Drag and Resize windows by clicking anywhere on the window
•    Window preview
•    Can be disabled (handy for games players)
•    Settings window for enabling/disabling features
•    Informative tool tips
•    Ghost windows!
•    Auto Off feature (user controlled variable timer)
•    Allows minimizing of windows to the system tray
•    Monitors windows for change of caption/z-order/dead tray icons etc…
•    Display resolution selector – easily change your desktop resolution in 1 click.
•    Icon/List view
•    Variable preview size
•    Mouse wheel support
•    Automatically minimizes or closes Explorer windows
•    Blacklist feature removes apps from the task preview (right-click on them to enable)
•    Access ATT with an alternate “Alt+Key” combination, without altering the standard Windows Alt-Tab function (use both at the same time!)
•    Taskbar Previews – When you hover the mouse over a taskbar, you will see previews for open windows above the taskbar

What’s new in Current Release?

•    Now works with all versions of XP & Vista.
•    Dragging and resizing has been amended. The ALT key has been replaced with the CONTROL key. This is to avoid conflicts when using the ALT key with the task list. Also the user must now Double-Click the mouse (holding the 2nd click).
•    Mouse wheel integration: Move the scrollbar with the mouse wheel. Clicking the wheel (middle mouse button) toggles between moving the scrollbar and the highlighted selection.
•    Right-click menu: Sort the task list into different orders: Z-order, Alphabetical, Description, or Window Size. The taskbar and start menu can also be accessed from here. Handy if you’re the sort of user that has the taskbar on auto hide and beneath other windows.
•    Holding the SHIFT key whilst selecting a resizable window (e.g. explorer) toggles between normal and maximized views.
•    The preview pane can now be either to the left (default) or to the right of the task list.
•    Clicking the Alt-Tab Thingy™ icon will now open the task list (if there are no tasks running, the settings applet appears). If the Settings applet is already open, clicking the short-cut icon, or clicking Settings on one of the menus will cause it to re-appear.