Leaked video shows Windows 9 virtual desktops

After having released some screenshots from Windows 9 build 9834, an early build of the forthcoming Technical Preview which is expected to debut later this month, WinFuture.de released a video showing off the new Start menu in action. The site has now followed that up with two new videos. The first gives us another look at the new Start menu and live tiles, while the second shows us how the new virtual desktops will work. Virtual desktops is a feature new to Windows (unless you installed a third-party tool), but it’s something Linux and Mac OS X users will be very familiar with, and lets you switch between different workspaces. It’s a feature that many power users will definitely appreciate.

The Windows 9 leaks just keep on coming. This week, a barrage of screenshots and a video of the reborn Start menu were both revealed, and Friday, WinFuture posted a video showing off a newfangled virtual desktop feature currently being tested in Windows 9. As the video shows, the feature is managed by a taskbar icon, with easy one-click creation and termination of virtual desktops. (In case you’re not familiar with the term, each virtual desktop can house its own open programs and shortcuts, independent of the other desktops.) The video showcases some other nifty virtual desktop tricks too. Selecting the taskbar icon brings up small peek-like previews of all of your virtual desktops. Mousing over one brings up a sort of preview mode, where images of each of your open programs in that virtual desktop appear in the center of the screen. You’re able to easily close open programs or select which program you’d like to jump to using this interface. Another tidbit shown in the video: If you try to launch a program or file that’s already open in a virtual desktop, the system will automatically bring you to the open version, even if it’s on a different virtual desktop than the one you’re currently working in. (Hopefully there’s an option or ability to disable that.)