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No, there is no pause in Win7. This was added to Win10, and yes, it's a great feature.

If you have time (I know, who does?) then read that entire thread on the explorer refresh bug. The summary is that Microsoft has released numerous patches for this problem, and many users report that while each patch may initially work, the problem eventually returns. Some have concluded that the bug is deep and poorly defined, and so there is probably no hope of an actual genuine fix to the problem, that link (for example) is to a forum thread exploring the possibility of spitting F5 key presses at explorer windows to force them to continually refresh. Read this to truly appreciate how much of a train wreck the problem actually is.

I use most of those as well. I also assign various Win+Function keys to my media player's global hotkeys, and use AutoHotkey to make Win+Up/Down a bit more to my liking. Incidentally, here's the AutoHotkey script I developed, in case anyone finds it useful.

; Disable Win+F1 opening Windows help - have it mute the volume instead
#F1::Send {Volume_Mute}

; Win+F11/F12 control the system volume
#F11::Send {Volume_Down}
#F12::Send {Volume_Up}

; Win+Up toggles maximise instead of always maximising
#Up::
WinGetPos, width, height, , , A
if ( width < 0 and height < 0) {
        WinRestore, A
} else {
        WinMaximize, A
}
return

; Win+Down always minimises, instead of sometimes unmaximising
#Down::WinMinimize, A

Try http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/ or http://ahkscript.org/.

Autohotkey basically lets you remap any combination of buttons (keyboard or mouse) and modifiers to anything else, including scripts. I use it extensively for PC gaming. Things like automatically repeating mouseclicks for Diablo2 or PathOfExile, Or just mapping mice buttons to keyboard buttons for MMORPGs.

Open source, of course. Passes all the check-with-everything online antivirus scans, e.g https://www.virustotal.com/. Extensive capabilities. Lots of discussion on stackoverflow. Wonderful little background drama on the forums with a semi-fork and reconciliation. Extensive forums. Phenomenal capabilities. Did I mention that it can remap mice/keyboard on a per-application basis? You can have different mappings for different games that you're running concurrently. Extensive documentation.

Check it out!

If you're just starting out, I'd recommend this: http://www.autohotkey.com/
The syntax is about as user friendly as you'll ever get.
You can write the applications in notepad
You don't even have to compile them if you don't want to.
It can do just about anything any major language can.

What?? Really?

I used autohotkey before to make automate some keystrokes for leveling up in an online game (power leveling bot). But I had no idea it was a full featured programming language.

You mean to say AHK can access databases and serve up web pages and stuff??

I've used these sorts of things extensively before. They all fail for the same reason.

Programmers often assume that the hard part of programing is the obscure syntax of languages, because to them when learning a new language, that's what's hard. And while yes, the syntax is difficult at first, the novice does get it eventually. The real problem with the novice is often the counter-intuitive logic often presented in programming.

For example, take the typical problem of "If they chose Yes, I don't want the program to do X. But if they don't, I do what them to do X"
The novice often has a hard time even articulating that condition in the English language, much less a programming one. How would simplifying the syntax make it any easier?
The solution to a programmer is simple: If "yes" then X
and the novice asks in alarm "Greater than or less than?!!? WHAT?"

So then you have your "easy" programming language that's similar to English. That's great, how do you articulate that previous statement in that language now? It's not any easier. On top of that, because you've dumbed down the language to make it more user friendly, you've likely also taken away a lot of its power. The archaic syntax of languages is often for a very good reason. And when that user does start to get somewhere, they'll end up in a forum asking how to do it, and the programmers will flat out tell them the logic at which point they'll find out that they can't apply that logic because of the simplified syntax.

If you're just starting out, I'd recommend this: http://www.autohotkey.com/
The syntax is about as user friendly as you'll ever get.
You can write the applications in notepad
You don't even have to compile them if you don't want to.
It can do just about anything any major language can.

As a physician who was dragged screaming and kicking into having to use EPIC, I have to agree.

I never knew I could hate a company more than Microsoft. Their client is a bloated horror that nevertheless acts like the thinnest client in the world: "Oh, look, the doctor pressed the Shift key ... I guess I'll send that over the network, and wait for a response ... oh look, s/he released the Shift key now -- I guess I'll send that over the network, too..." Apparently it's based on the Internet Explorer library, so there is no Mac version (at least not when I was using it)...

The interface was so bad that I learned how to program in AutoHotkey and probably spent in excess of 200 hours over a year to automate things. AutoHotkey was a lifesaver: open source and powerful. (In fact, the pitiful xdotool we have for Linux doesn't even come close to AutoHotkey for windows, and even if I weren't forced to use Windows for my work, I might have ended up choosing it over Linux just because of AutoHotkey and its ecosystem of experienced developers.)

At the time I was with a large clinic chain that had about 40% of the market in our large sprawling metropolitan supercluster location. They surveyed the doctors, who said that on average they were spending an extra hour per day using Epic. And in the end, it was a lot of *data*-generation and not a lot of *information*. Our specialists complained that everything was being crammed into a template form, and they really couldn't tell what we were thinking, just checklists of what the patient did/did not have.

Having vendor lock-in, they have no incentive to improve. They can do whatever they want... if the clinic/hospital is already stuck using Epic, why would they spend money on fixing their problems instead of recruiting more clients?

Having said all that, even Epic is better than what I'm stuck using right now ... eClinicalWorks. That's even worse than Epic. All the problems of Epic, plus even worse interface. Right now I type my notes in a plain text editor and then use AutoHotkey to cut-n-paste it into eClinicalWorks. What a nightmare.

OpenEMR all the way!

Couldn't you just take any keyboard and write macros using http://www.autohotkey.com/ and do the same thing?
Neither of his demo units are functional?
He has no idea how to even use the thing he's invented?!?!
I don't think I'll be investing any time soon. :-)

Many of my choices covered above, but more important for me is AutoHotKey. Computers are supposed to do the work. (I've had key/mouse recording/scripting utilities back from my Amiga days, then old Macintosh at work, and so on, nothing beats being able to shortcut/automate any repetitive thing.)

You can use Autohotkey to turn these lights in to something more useful. In fact, may as well throw capslock in there as well if you don't use it.

Setting the toggle keys states
Now you just need to build the rest of the damn script.
Good luck with that.
There was a script somewhere that did this, but I cannot find it.

There are some interesting ideas from this thread as well actually.
Setting LED states
Also still an active thread which I just saw there on the last page, so all good there.

You can use Autohotkey to turn these lights in to something more useful. In fact, may as well throw capslock in there as well if you don't use it.

Setting the toggle keys states
Now you just need to build the rest of the damn script.
Good luck with that.
There was a script somewhere that did this, but I cannot find it.

There are some interesting ideas from this thread as well actually.
Setting LED states
Also still an active thread which I just saw there on the last page, so all good there.

I preferred Thumbscript myself. True it only works for a certain number of languages since it is based on 3-digit combinations for glyphs. (well, 2 since everything goes through the middle, for the most part)
Image of the basic idea here
It could be expanded on BY adding 3 digit combinations as well, but it would also increase complexity.
You could probably dynamically show characters you could create from the current button press to the next button press, but that'd get really complex.
In the similar idea behind Dasher, you could use smaller and smaller letters the deeper they are. (I loved dasher as well. Dasher is fantastic.)

I made an implementation on numpad to see how well it worked and it wasn't half bad. Took a little while to get used to, but quite a few keys were shaped like the movements on the 3x3 grid, which helped.
And for those who might want an implementation, I cannot right now, but here is a similar one on AHK forums that doesn't look that bad.
AHK forums - thumbscript beta
It is an old post though. And I think AHK went through a huge change in syntax a while back, but not sure if it was before or after this post was made. I think, by looking through the syntax of the code in question, it should work.

So there's no way to programatically enter data into SAP? Fine, then write something that enters the data 'manually' for you. Hell, even VB6 could send keys to the active window and thats nothing compared to the macroing solutions we have available nowadays.

There's a free version for Autohotkey that works decently on a standard keyboard available here. I used it a bit and decided it wasn't for me but it might be usable.

I've never thought of basically running multiple local sessions and just having simple hooks to switch between them. You have found a stumbling point of this implementation: no dragging of windows/apps between sessions. Still, it is a solid idea, and I'm always glad to be proven wrong.

The powershell is very, erm, powerful. Much closer to the CLI on other OSes (read: the way a cli should work). The best small app builder that is easy to learn that I have found is called AutoIt (or the derivative AutoHotKey). Both allow completing tasks from quick little hotkey macros up to building simple GUIs in a BASIC-esque form. Too much to hope for something like either of these little beauties to come standard though.

yeah except that it creates additional overhead from managing those windows to be on the "right" desktop... I use Windows and I found two tools that make window management a lot better than anything that's readily avaliable on Linux - or at least I'm not away of this... here's the workflow i found most effective

• every window on the same desktop (no virtual desktop tool here)
• taskbar on autohide
• switch between rescent programs via alt-tab
• switch to programs not used rescently via ctrl-meta-tab... for me that opens an expose like screen with incremental on-type search for a window title and selection via keyboard... no mouse needed. having 20 putty windows open? just start typing the servername, username or whatever is in the title of the window you'd like to switch to
• arrange windows on any border or corner of the screen, maximize vertically or horizontally (in addition to what you can do by default) - all with the keyboard.... ctrl-meta-numKey to put it into any corner or border, ctrl-meta-down for max vertical, ctrl-meta-right for max horizontal...
• launch programs, open documents, start putty sessions etc with launchy which comes up with ctrl-shift-space
• plus some global hotkeys to my liking like ctrl-meta-m opens/activates thunderbird, ctrl-meta-a TBs address book, ctrl-meta-n TBs new mail window...
• all hotkeys completely configurable... I just used ctrl-meta because I found it easy to press and not used by anything else...
• tools used: Switcher, SecondShell, AutoHotkey, Wizmouse (for *nix like scrolling)

that said: I really liked Gnome2 but Gnome3 (let alone Unity) is fubar... Sure there's MATE but I wouldn't bet that this will be around for too long - at least not in any usable state... Look at trinity... it's avaliable but it seems abandoned... same will be true for MATE... And XFCE is lightweight and all but I really want a full fledged DE but one that performs and one that lets me set it up to my liking... Gnome2 was this...

BEWARE OF THE RANT THAT FOLLOWS
And KDE is consistent, configurable and all but it also pisses me off for that thingy up right and nepomuk... Also even with a rather powerful machine KDE feels sluggish compared to Windows and no, I can't live with the slightest delay when there's no apparent reason for it... Desktop effects are one reason for this but I find KDE looses a big chunk of usability if you disable them all and completely... I never understood why they had to implement their own stuff there... Compiz worked well enough, even back then, and it was performing swiftly... the KDE effects on the other hand are still sluggish after all this time - even on a powerfull machine... And then there's this bug in the print dialog... Some distros incorporate a hackish fix that works for 99% of the users, some don't... KDE doesn't by itself because it's upstream but why would I give a shit about who's to blame as a user? All I know is that the KDE printing dialog doesn't respect a printers default settings and it doesn't save settings either... I don't care if it's QTs fault... There's a fix that does away with the problem for 99% of the people and KDE won't use it because it's an upstream bug... Thing is: Nokia gives a shit... They've known this bug for more like 3 years now and openly showed that they won't fix it... they're not even considering is seriously... They're ignoring it... KDE knows that and they're stubborn... Problem shifted to distros and some of those (including Ubuntu) shift it to the user... I mean: they could as well switch to open printing but they're not doing this either... now THAT's the reason Linux doesn't get a grip on the desktop... because politics by people with 10" sticks in their rectums get fought out on the

I think the best way you could get them up and running would be introducing them to Autohotkey http://autohotkey.com/. You can literally teach them how to make keyboard presses do new things in 5 minutes. Example: !a:: SendInput I pressed alt+a return

I tried making a script with AutoHotKey for those but it wasn't working for me. I'm not really good with it but it can probably be done.

http://www.autohotkey.com/ - give it a shot! and if you are able to make it I hope you remember this thread and share :)

Using AutoHotkey, I send VirtuaWin a message to toggle between the last two virtual windows when I press the forward mouse button (I also map Alt-~ and a double-tap of the Windows key to do the same).

This might help with that:
http://www.autohotkey.com/

I also heartily recommend AutoIT's cousin, AutoHotKey. You can write a GUI program with menus and compile it to a small EXE executable if you like. It is super for replacing batch files.

call me when you can script a GUI as easily as a CLI.

http://www.autohotkey.com/
http://www.autoitscript.com/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t0aew7h6(VS.85).aspx
http://archworx.wordpress.com/2006/11/05/how-to-create-a-vista-sidebar-gadget
http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

Your ignorance doesn't change facts.

The alt-tab replacement that I use supports pressing a number key, using the mouse scrollwheel or just using the mouse directly to quickly jump to any running task and it works very well. The method that you are proposing is just sloppy and convoluted.

If you like hotkeys, it's easy enough for anybody to grab AutoHotKey and make their own to do almost anything within a couple of minutes.

3D desktops won't be the future, the ZUI (Zooming User Interface) will be. They work in an intuitive and familiar way like a modern GUI, except they are more flexible.

AutoHotkey has its own free editor with syntax highlighting.

I just checked. My AutoHotkey script is 1,639 lines, 52,140 bytes. That doesn't include the special scripts.

The source code is available, as is a GUI creator.

The AutoHotkey programming language is quirky.

AutoIt has a more standard language. AutoIt is better for complex automated installation scripts, for example. AutoHotkey is better for hotkeys. Both offer compilation of their scripts to .EXE files.

He's right. AutoHotkey is excellent. Change any key to anything else, or to a sequence of keystrokes.

I could not get it to run on Vista64, but my impression is the same; it allows you to write macros that target GUI components by fuzzy graphical matching of little screen shot snippets to what is currently on the screen. They provide an (unfortunately somewhat tedious) video demo that illustrates what it does.

It would be a boon for working with Lightroom, which has horrific keybindings; no way to rebind keys, and many common functions that have no keys at all (like red-eye reduction, where you must interact with a graphical element). I have been able to get around some of this with AutoHotKey, but I'd love to be able to bind a hotkey to a mouse click on a specific GUI component, regardless of it's current absolute x,y coordinate on my screen. That's exactly what Sikuli is supposed to do.

I really wish Adobe would co-opt the awesome dynamic key rebinding mechanism Gimp uses ...

While I was working at a school I used this program Autohotkey to successfully teach a 10 year old the very basics of programming (emphasis on very), it involves all the basic principles of teaching a computer but in a very simple and easy way and with simple and easy to understand results and uses in everyday computer use.

Windows still sucks for customization:

* Can you just drag your favorite folders to the common open/save dialog box like OSX ?

* Can you add the option to Right-Click on a folder and "Command Prompt Here" without hacking the registry. Gee, thx for removing File Types "Folder / Directory" customization in Vista, MS.

* Can you over-ride or add your own custom Windows- shortcuts without using AutoHotKey ? i.e. Win-C Run Calculator, Win-Z Run Cmd. http://www.autohotkey.com/

* Can you re-order the taskbar tabs without using Taskbar Shuffle, XNeat Window Manager, or Taskbar Manager ? http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-9937700-12.html

It only took MS _how_ long to standardize on the C:\Users\ folder, when before it kept changing almost every Windows version?

* Why the hell does an Admin need to use something like Unlocker to copy/delete tmp files used by another process or even to kill _any_ process?? http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

* I still have to make a batch file called x.bat that contains "@start explorer /e,." in every version of windows just because MS doesn't care to teach people how to seemlessly go back and forth between explorer and the command line.

But yeah, Windows is slowly getting usable.

--
Awesome Steam games!: Braid, Darwinia, Light of Altair, Osmos, Trine World of Goo

;
; AutoHotkey.ini AutoHotkey script, starts automatically.
;
; # Win (Windows Key)
; ! Alt
; ^ Control
; + Shift
; & An ampersand may be used between any two keys or mouse buttons
; to combine them into a custom hotkey. See Help for details.
; < Use the left key of the pair.
; e.g. <!a is the same as !a except that only the left Alt key
; will trigger it.
; This feature is not supported on Windows 95/98/ME.
; > Use the right key of the pair.
; This feature is not supported on Windows 95/98/ME.
;
; Send command keys:
; In a hotkey definition, ^K is control-k, lower case, and ^+K is control-K,
upper case.
; As a parameter of the Send command, however, ^k is control-k, lower case,
and ^K is control-K, upper case.
;
; Keyboard shortcuts available in Windows XP:
; (Don't re-define Windows XP keyboard shortcuts.)
; http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;301583
;
; __________
;
;
; The examples below are activated with Control-Shift:
;
;
; HTML Italics
; Type the characters <I>""</I> and then position the cursor left 5 characters.
; See below for HTML Link characters.
^+I::Sendinput, <I>""</I>{Left 5}
;
;
; Run the "Change Case" program
^+K::Run "C:\Program Files\ChangeCase\ChngCase.exe"
;
;
; HTML Link
^+L::Sendinput, <A HREF= "" TARGET="_blank" ></A>{Left 23}
;
;
; Run the Michaelis Portuguese Dictionary
^+M::Run "C:\DTS\WDIC\WDIC.EXE"
;
;

AutoHotkey is a necessity. Open Source, free, but unfortunately no Linux version. Automates keystrokes. Very professionally maintained. The programming language is quirky.

AutoIt makes programs that do automatic installations for examples.

Both can imitate keystrokes and mouse movements.

Unless, of course, you make the antivirus itself pop up a simple "Yes/No" dialog when its attempted to be uninstalled, warning that malware could be the one behind it.

Something which can be easily circumvented by using tools such as AutoHotKey (http://www.autohotkey.com)

This sort of functionality is best with a key reserved for the operating system (or at least the window manager) to use for its own purposes. Since Ctrl, Alt, and Shift mostly belong to applications, a fourth meta key is desirable.

Yep, it's a necessity. I simply could not use a windows computer effectively without the winkey. I rarely use capslock so I remapped it to super using a scancode map in the registry. It's not ideal, but it's a lot cleaner than using hotkey software. Autohotkey goes a long way, but I never got a script working that would map all of the shortcuts I use (specifically win+pause and win+L).

Also, unicomp sells replacement super keys with either an apple or a lunix logo. What I'd really like to see is an advanced keyboard with buckling springs. A usb hub, volume/media controls, and LED backlights would be nice. Deck makes a nice-looking keyboard, but I've heard its cherry switches aren't as good as buckling springs and it doesnt have the rest of the features I am looking for anyway. Does Unicomp license the technology to anyone else?

I suppose you mean to imply that TrueCrypt makes your computer slower. I suppose that may be true, but I haven't noticed it. TrueCrypt seems to be very, very well designed.

Note that there are TrueCrypt versions for both Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux. All are free and open source.

Because my hotkey script contains a password, I've installed AutoHotkey in an encrypted TrueCrypt container. (A TrueCrypt container is either a file or an entire partition.) So, every time I use a hotkey, the system must get it from an encrypted file and be decrypted. I don't notice any difference in speed between that and when AutoHotkey was installed on an unencrypted OS partition.

I've used TrueCrypt for years and had no problems with it. Most software has numerous shortcomings. The biggest problem I can think of now with TrueCrypt is that the documentation doesn't explain the /q command line option very well. That's very minor, a problem not even in the program itself. (Yes, I suggested a re-write in the TrueCrypt forum, and yes, I offered to do the re-writing myself.)

I haven't yet experimented with encrypting the entire OS partition. I have experimented with encrypting an entire data partition; I didn't notice a speed difference. However, I found that it is better not to encrypt data partitions, it is easier to make an encrypted container on the data partition. That's especially true if the container can be the size of one DVD, 4.7 gigabytes, less the space necessary for the unencrypted TrueCrypt software. Then you can just dismount the container and burn a DVD backup of the container file and the TrueCrypt software.

TrueCrypt has been 100% reliable for me. There has never been a hint of a problem that might cause loss of data.

TrueCrypt developers: TrueCrypt is a wonderful gift to the world. Thanks!

My opinion is that it's necessary that encryption software be open source; I would never run proprietary encryption software because of the possibility that some rogue employee installed a back door. Also, the U.S. government believes it can force U.S. commercial companies to install surveillance functions in both hardware and software; executives and employees who disagree can be put in prison secretly. I suppose that isn't done very often, but like everything a government does in secret, there are unintended consequences. One of the consequences is that in some cases it may be considered unsafe to use U.S. products. It isn't only the U.S. banking system that is out of control.

Also, since I mentioned AutoHotkey, I will say that it is excellent, although the programming language is a bit quirky. My main AutoHotkey script is now 1563 lines; I use it a lot. It is Windows only.

AutoHotkey is great for Hotkeys and also open source and free. If you want to run scripts that interact with a Windows GUI as though someone is moving a mouse and typing at a keyboard, then AutoIt is better. AutoHotkey and AutoIt co-exist perfectly. The two had a common origin.

TrueCrypt encrypted containers can be formatted as NTFS or FAT file systems. I haven't tried other file systems. All the Windows file system utilities work perfectly inside TrueCrypt encrypted containers: Windows Explorer, ChkDsk.exe, FsUtil.exe, Format.com, and Defrag.exe. I've found the free open source JkDefrag to be a better defragmenter; it works perfectly inside TrueCrypt containers.

I need the ability to assign certain characters to key combinations

You can do that with an external tool like autohotkey. Advantage: it works in any window.

Obama's health care information reform plan Wow ! This plan is going to make me a born again believer in the presidency. Compared to the plan to help the bankers and the automakers, this plan actually benefits patients, voters, citizens, and not to mention doctors. I would like to form a team to take a grass roots doctor proposal to Obama. I started programming a few years ago because I had major isssues with the current state of informatics that hindered my job as a radiologist. I am interested in spreading awareness and educating doctors, students, patients, everyone about the importance of programming. I believe scripting patient related information is going to be an important part of writing a pre (script) ion. I would like to assemble a team of 100-1000 programmers to help Obama implement his plan. By default, we will be volunteers. Let me know if you want to be part of it. I will announce progress on the project in this thread: http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39902

My grandma likes to play chess on an old windows laptop. As she constantly got confused with right clicks and pressing the wrong buttons as well as repositioning windows and sliders, I used Autohotkey to disable right clicks and disable mouse-dragging actions. Also I created some autohotkey macros to make the chess app stay in foreground, etc. Bottom line is: Autohotkey plus a bit of tweaking might help to avoid mistakes and simplify usage.

Actually, you're only using your left four fingers. If you include your thumb in the fun, you can type every word (demo, a free version)

Also, software. I get a lot of work done more quickly by writing quick little AutoHotKey scripts at work. Of course, nobody in IT uses it or would think to approve it for me, but nonetheless it is an effective tool. Similarly, other tools like various text editors, merge tools, and similar are not on any approved list but have evolved into usage because users at my company are free to choose appropriate tools. From this, the best tools have risen up.

If your AV and anti-spyware software *is* locked down and up to date, there should be little risk of infection by users. And for your most important data and systems you should NEVER trust the end users on your network anyway.

AutoHotKey. You can easily create a single icon or button that automatically does everything for you with a single click, although if you are constantly having to restart services like in your example, you probably have deeper issues with your computer and should fix it.

How about this? I want to listen to some music. With a GUI you double click the file and it starts playing. From a commandline you have to type the executable and the name of the music file. Even wth tab completion, it takes far more time.

The Windows key is the only modifier key that the applications don't use. This means you can use it for global shortcuts, e.g. Win+F to launch Firefox or Win+Del to mute the volume.

I do this under Windows using AutoHotkey (tutorial) and using xbindkeys on Linux. It's very handy.

For those using Windows, don't forget AutoHotkey, and the ReMapKey.exe program that comes with Windows XP.

1) Route sound around with cat5. Seriously. It transmits signals up to 100mhz, so audio frequencies are a cinch. I don't know though if you need differential drivers at each end or not.

2) Get a decent RF remote control (eg. the Gyration one) or RF keyboard, and make those keystrokes control your music apps via AutoHotkey. This is the DIY route, but AutoHotkey is fast, light, and can do almost everything.

For Windows, I use AutoHotkey.

For Linux, you can use xbindkeys (all desktop environments), edit the Metacity settings via gconf (GNOME), or use the Menu Editor (KDE). I'm using the Metacity way.

We have a tracking proxy here too. I set up an old P3-550 in my basement. It's running a proxy, and zebedee.

At work, I run the other side of zebedee with a key on a usb drive. Point your browser to localhost:8080 and you're ready to rock! To the admins, they just see a stream of traffic to some webpage at notmy.real.address.com:443.

Another great slack tool is VMware. Make virtual disks with fun stuff on them and take them to work. Or bring in books in pdf format on your usb drive. Music and movies, if you're daring enough. Use VLC Portable for that. Leaves no trace on your PC.

Another good tool is AutoHotKey. Perfect for making custom panic/boss keys.

I guess the whole point of this is that employees, if motivated enough, will be able to slack off at work. No matter what.

Scripting mouse input isn't that hard though. Check out http://www.autohotkey.com/

Well, have fun debugging the script:

Click 112, 223
Click 342, 334
Click 243, 186
...

Just hope that on another computer, different desktop theme, or phase of the moon, the windows don't decide to be in slightly different places.

I agree with you, it would be a whole lot easier to script things if you could do it all with keyboard input. Scripting mouse input isn't that hard though. Check out http://www.autohotkey.com/

For Microsoft, every software developer is competition, because Microsoft sells both operating systems and user software, in clear violation of any sensible standard of anti-trust. Now that Microsoft is developing online applications, the company is in competition with every IT department, too.

Part of the problem with installing software on Windows is that Microsoft has a monopoly and doesn't want systems to be easily patched. Fixing many issues like that will wait for some new version of Windows Microsoft will sell in the future; that's one of the ways virtual monopolies protect their income, by assuring a necessary product always has failures that can be improved later. (Chevy did that decades ago; that's one reason why Toyota and Datsun are now more popular brands.)

Microsoft has consistently failed to develop good standards and failed to help software developers work by the standards, again part of a monopoly's ignorant adversarial method of maximizing income. Ignorant, because adversarial behavior is self-destructive.

Automate installations with AutoHotKey and AutoIt: We've had some luck getting around quirky install problems by making an installer using AutoIt and AutoHotKey. (The AutoIt link is to the IDE, which is excellent. Install AutoIt and then install the linked package, which after the full installation can be used to update both AutoIt and the IDE at the same time.)

Both AutoHotKey and AutoIt simply simulate pressing the keys and moving the mouse the same way installation of new software is done manually, but according to a script, which is faster and less prone to error than manual installation. In rare cases, AutoHotKey works when AutoIt doesn't, and the opposite is true, too.

Both AutoIt and AutoHotKey are free and mature. AutoHotKey is open source. AutoHotKey is under extremely active and responsive development; there have been 9 new versions since the beginning of 2007 mostly to fix very minor issues recommended by users. Chris Mallett, the developer of AutoHotKey, is a very rare sort of person. He is both an excellent programmer and an excellent writer. It is far easier to get involved with AutoHotKey than with other new programming languages because the documentation is excellent.

We also use AutoHotKey and AutoIt to send a copy of a screen and email it to the IT department when a user presses Windows Key-F11. The software compresses the image first. We like having a record of what a user saw on the screen together with an accurate permanent record of the machine name and time and date.

For Microsoft, every software developer is competition, because Microsoft sells both operating systems and user software, in clear violation of any sensible standard of anti-trust. Now that Microsoft is developing online applications, the company is in competition with every IT department, too.

Part of the problem with installing software on Windows is that Microsoft has a monopoly and doesn't want systems to be easily patched. Fixing many issues like that will wait for some new version of Windows Microsoft will sell in the future; that's one of the ways virtual monopolies protect their income, by assuring a necessary product always has failures that can be improved later. (Chevy did that decades ago; that's one reason why Toyota and Datsun are now more popular brands.)

Microsoft has consistently failed to develop good standards and failed to help software developers work by the standards, again part of a monopoly's ignorant adversarial method of maximizing income. Ignorant, because adversarial behavior is self-destructive.

Automate installations with AutoHotKey and AutoIt: We've had some luck getting around quirky install problems by making an installer using AutoIt and AutoHotKey. (The AutoIt link is to the IDE, which is excellent. Install AutoIt and then install the linked package, which after the full installation can be used to update both AutoIt and the IDE at the same time.)

Both AutoHotKey and AutoIt simply simulate pressing the keys and moving the mouse the same way installation of new software is done manually, but according to a script, which is faster and less prone to error than manual installation. In rare cases, AutoHotKey works when AutoIt doesn't, and the opposite is true, too.

Both AutoIt and AutoHotKey are free and mature. AutoHotKey is open source. AutoHotKey is under extremely active and responsive development; there have been 9 new versions since the beginning of 2007 mostly to fix very minor issues recommended by users. Chris Mallett, the developer of AutoHotKey, is a very rare sort of person. He is both an excellent programmer and an excellent writer. It is far easier to get involved with AutoHotKey than with other new programming languages because the documentation is excellent.

We also use AutoHotKey and AutoIt to send a copy of a screen and email it to the IT department when a user presses Windows Key-F11. The software compresses the image first. We like having a record of what a user saw on the screen together with an accurate permanent record of the machine name and time and date.

I've tried expose clones on windows and while "cool" I didn't see much improvement in productivity because in the Windows world, you always refer to your task bar for switching to a specific application. With the expose clone, I still felt like I had to visually search for the window I wanted.

But there's a good reason why expose is more useful on OSX than windows: There is no task bar in OSX so naturally, you're forced to use expose if you want a visual representation of all of your windows.

The "searching for a window" effect still annoys me even today. I shouldn't have to search for a window in any shape or form. Most of the time, I know that a window exists and I want to switch to it. Only in rare cases do I find myself flipping through alt+tab or searching the task bar trying to find something I forgot about out. Most of the time, I also know what kind of application it is, though I may not know the exact window title. I want to near-instantly be able switch to another window (not just between the two most recent windows either like alt+tab).

The closest I've seen is actually a little autohotkey script: http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic1040.html. With this script, I hit 'caps lock' (because I don't really use caps lock) and a window comes up with a list of window titles that are open. I can then begin typing the window title or keywords in the window title. For example if I hit 'caps lock' followed by typing 'fire' all of the firefox windows are listed. Hitting enter focuses on that window. In fact, there's an option that when the window list shrinks to fewer than 10 windows, each item is numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on so if you hit '2' for example it would pick the second window in the list and focus on it. This tool is especially useful if you're like me and have 20 to 30 windows open at a time that most visual representations get too cluttered to be useful and alt+tab becomes too cumbersome.

I just use KeyTweak to swap my left windows key and my caps lock key. Then I use AutoHotkey to make up all sorts of exciting and time-saving key combinations using the left windows key. (left windows + f brings firefox to the front. leftwin + e brings my email client to the front, checks for new messages, and moves to the next new message, etc).

http://www.autohotkey.com/