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If you have to frequently rotate in and out of several projects every day, you do need good tools. I use two tools to maintain sanity, dexpot (a free virtual desktop mngr) and xplorer2 (a multi-tabbed file explorer). Let's say you are working on a project and you get a call about another system. Simply click on a new virtual desktop and open xplorer2. In xplorer2, click on a saved folder group of directory locations (they are like firefox tabs, but for dirs/files). You're now ready to work. xplorer2 also lets you sort by custom groups. Thus, your solution/project files will sort to the very top while your code files & folders fall below. I typically run about 75 apps at any given day and maintain about 300 projects. Thus, I have a custom folder group for each system and sub custom folder groups for the very complex systems. xplorer2 also has bookmarks. I type p and instantly go to c:\programs dir etc... There are many apps like xplorer2. Whichever you look into, make sure it has custom groups. Note, you should ditch Win 10 due to privacy issues. Dexpot is rock solid, beautiful, and works with XP & Win 7. I also use Oracle VBox, running 4 XP VMs on any given day (VM for Visual Studio 6, ADO, etc). I leave my box running until it starts to die due to MS sloppy memory leaks (usually need to reboot about 2x a month).

http://www.dexpot.de/
http://zabkat.com/

Dexpot
It works with windows 7 and 8.1 ;-) (also give QtTabBar or Clover a try if you ever have to use windows for an extended period of time, they add tabs to windows explorer).
I completely agree with your sentiments btw, I am just pointing out these extensions for anyone that might have a need for them, I had to mess about with several different freeware alternatives before finally settling for these since they helped recreate my kde environment best :-) ). Now if I could only get wobbly windows somehow, it would be perfect...

Same here. The last version I used was 95 and I sorta liked it. I started to use Linux, because I wanted to learn more by myself.

The main thing now is that I have 24 workspaces (6 on each of the 4 screens) and I do not use Xinerama (I want to switch them individually)

Not sure if this would be possible with http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ or http://www.dexpot.de/index.php?id=home or others.
As it is not even easy to do under Linux (GNOME and KDE use Xinerama by default) I would not dare to try it.

Another thing is the ease of installing programs. I use YaST or just go to http://software.opensuse.org/ and I have almost anything I would need. In very seldom cases I do `sudo rpm -Uvh http://example.com/program.rpm` and be done with it. I have nothing that I compile myself. Updates are done from one place that is already configured from the start.

When I do a new installation, all the software that I need is already there right at my fingertips in one location. If I want to be a noob, it works. If I want to be a ubergeek, I have the tools to do anything I desire.

And last, but certainly not least, I am in control. I decide what I want. If I do not like it, I change. I do not like KDE or GNOME, so I use XFCE. If I want, I can use something else. And all that available without really searching the web for it.

So for me 1997 has been the year of the Linux desktop. The sole thing that keeps it from becoming it for everybody is pre-instalation. Have it pre-installed and people will use it. They use Android. They use MacOS. Why? Because it is pre-installed. Many people do not even know what Windows is. They don't care. They have their computer and they click on Internet and they can send a mail to friends and family, play a game, watch Youtube, use Facebook and search for free porn.

Multiple workspaces has got to be the feature that puts FOSS desktops above Winodws' in my mind

Have you tried dexpot? If you're looking for a workspace manager for Windows, this is the best one I've come across so far.

Had nobody here seen Dexpot?

It is free, and it works brilliant. http://www.dexpot.de/index.php?lang=en There is lots of configuration settings you can play with if you want to.

I've had good success using Dexpot for multiple desktops on Windows. You might want to check it out if you're stuck on Windows for work reasons also ;)

I've been using Dexpot 1.4 for the past few months now and it is very functional in XP. Nice customizable shortcut keys, named desktops, and free for private use; it's the most similar to a linux desktop switcher that I could find.

I'm happy XP finally brought real multiple-display support (something the Mac has had since System 7 at the latest), but who knows when robust multiple-virtual-display support will come along.

I don't think it will. I've been hunting for a decent virtual desktop manager for Windows for ages now, and they all have horrible issues. The best one I've seen so far is Dexpot, but even it is annoying to use.

As far as I can make out, the problem is this: Windows doesn't have a window manager in the traditional X sense. Applications handle their own resize, show and hide events. This means that for the desktop manager to switch desktops, it has to send the appropriate show and hide events to the applications... and the applications can take their own sweet time dealing with them. If the application's busy, the window won't change state. One desktop manager I tried to use (briefly) would actually wait for all the applications to process the events, which meant that if you tried to change desktops with an unresponsive application visible, the desktop manager would hang. Not great on a developer machine.

It gets worse: Desktop managers don't appear to get the opportunity to mediate when an application tries to show or hide itself. Certainly, it was all too common in Dexpot for an application to make itself visible when it was already visible on another desktop, with the result that Dexpot would get confused and think that the window was visible on two desktops simultaneously. I tend to run Thunderbird in #1 and Firefox in #2. Clicking on a link in Thunderbird would cause Firefox to become visible in #1 and #2, which isn't really what I wanted.

I eventually gave up and now when I have to use Windows I don't use a desktop manager. The irritation of having to deal with all my windows on one desktop is actually less than the irritation of having to deal with a broken desktop manager.

Free for personal use last time I used it. http://www.dexpot.de/