Windows Seven is almost here. The RTM buid is done and was made available to a wider audience yesterday. However, if you are on a older machine and can’t upgrade to Windows 7 (or your simply prefer XP over Windows 7) don’t worry. You can still enjoy many of the features offered by Windows Seven even in Windows XP. Over the next few days I will be reviewing applications that will help you enhancing your XP experience.
The most visible change in Windows 7 is its taskbar (sometimes called the Superbar). With ViGlance you can have an iconised taskbar even in Windows XP. Some of the main features of ViGlance are –
Iconised Taskbar : ViGlance allows Windows XP users to enjoy Windows 7 like iconised taskbar (with 48px icons).
Aero Peek: Get a quick look at your desktop by simply hovering your pointer over the Aero Peek button.
Dynamic Window Thumbnails: A picture is worth a thousand words. ViGlance adds dynamic thumbnail previews for Taskbar buttons.
Windows 7 Orb: Replace the ugly Start button of Windows XP with the beautiful Orb present in Windows Seven.
Glide Transition Effect: ViGlance implements its own transition effect (inspired by Windows Seven transition effects) called Glide. Not only does it look cool, it actually enhances navigation.
Smart Grouping : ViGlance takes Windows XP’s grouping feature to the next level by making it identical to Windows Seven’s smart grouping. All entries belonging to the same application are clubbed together.
ViGlance mimics the Windows Seven superbar quite accurately. If you intend on sticking with Windows XP then give this software a try. It beefs up the Windows XP UI with minimal performance overhead.
Download ViGlance (231 KB)
Platforms Supported : Windows Xp and Windows Vista*
License : Freeware
Version Reviewed : 1.0 (Build 1172)
*ViGlance doesn’t officially support Windows Vista(yet). But I managed to run it on Vista also without any problem.
One more reason for me not to move away from Microsoft’s most successful OS. My dear ol’ XP 🙂
.-= Shaunak De´s last blog ..Scenic Sunset =-.
@shaunak de, it is not about the looks. You have it in vista too! It is about the overall balance of UI and performance. Windows7 rocks.
.-= chinmoy´s last blog ..Links for 2009-08-08 [Digg] =-.
If I had to be stuck with Windows, it would be XP, hands down.
Thanx for sharing it. I use vista and i hope it doesn’t messed up with my os.
it’s about the freedom to carry out watever you want easily….. more than anything else that is one thing that has made windows 7 bigger and better extrevaganza than xp !!!
Windows Vista was horrible. Hope Windows 7 suffices atleast at par with XP, looks are a bonus if at all relevant…These themes ain’t required for pros, performance and stability counts.
.-= Rahul´s last blog ..TCS: N. Chandrasekaran to succeed S. Ramadorai as CEO, S. Ramadorai to take over as Vice-Chairman in a non-executive role =-.