The recent release of DisplayFusion 2 was a timely reminder of how much I rely upon this program.  I use a dual display configuration at work and not a day goes by where I don’t find myself relying upon its capabilities.  The reason?  It adds keyboard shortcuts allowing you to take full advantage of multiple monitors without reaching for your mouse.  

I’ve found out the hard way that Windows level of multi-monitor support is highly dependent upon your video chipset vendor.  My previous system had an ATI chipset, and their Hydravision utility allowed me to perform similar windows management functions to DisplayFusion out of the box.  My current Thinkpad T60 includes an Intel chipset and while its display profile support is much better, its multi-monitor application management capabilities seem to be non-existent.

I tried a few alternatives but stuck with DisplayFusion because it does everything I need (and some things I don’t… yet) at the right price.  To give you an idea of its capabilities I’ve listed the default hotkeys for the standard version’s functionality.  I’m sure the Ctrl + Win + X key combination must be hard wired into my brain by now!

Function Hotkeys
Move windows to centre of the screen Ctrl + Win + Q
Move windows to centre of the screen and size it to 75% of the work area Ctrl + Win + S
Move windows to the next monitor Ctrl + Win + X
Move windows to the next monitor and maximize them Ctrl + Win + A
Move windows to the next monitor and size proportionally Ctrl + Win + Z
Maximize windows so that they span all monitors Ctrl + Win + ~
Tile windows along bottom side of monitor Ctrl + Win + <Down Arrow>
Tile windows along left side of monitor Ctrl + Win + <Left Arrow>
Tile windows along right side of monitor Ctrl + Win + <Right Arrow>
Tile windows along top side of monitor Ctrl + Win + <Up Arrow>

To be honest I haven’t even looked at the wallpaper capabilities - I usually have so many windows open I can’t even see the desktop!  But when I do get around to using the aesthetic side of the utility I’ll probably pay the $10 to upgrade to the pro version.  Working out of different offices means the resolution of my second monitor changes and it would defeat the purpose if I had to manually reconfigure my wallpaper when I booted up at new site.

DisplayFusion Wallpaper Configuration

via gHacks

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