Technology Blog

Many Windows users know about Alt+Tab. You can hold down the Alt key and press Tab repeatedly to switch to any application that’s currently open.

The Aero user interface adds a powerful enhancement to task switching. Alt+Tab still works—even better, in fact, because now thumbnails of each application are displayed, not just titles. But you’ll probably abandon Alt+Tab in favor of Windows+Tab, called Flip3D, which shows you a revolving set of windows at an angle so you can see exactly what you’re switching to. One of the windows that’s shown in the Flip 3D view is always your Windows Desktop. That makes it easy to minimize all of your applications. Simply hold down the Windows key (either the left one or the right one), and then press Tab until the miniature window that looks like your Desktop is uppermost.

You can reverse the order that Flip 3D cycles through your open windows by holding down the Shift key in addition to Windows+Tab. In our tests, the Desktop window has always been displayed as the bottom-most application when we pressed Windows+Tab. To minimize all applications and display your Desktop, therefore, hold down the Windows key, then press Tab, Shift+Tab, and let go of the Windows key.