30 Lau nch Prog rams Q uickly
touch keyboard, can be shown or hidden
via the Taskbar’s right-click menu; others,
including the clock and the Action Center
button, can be removed under Taskbar
settings (click “Turn System Icons On or
Off” under “Notification Area”).25
Adjust Notification
Pop-Ups
While you can tweak many aspects
of the Action Center on your PC via
“Settings > System > Notifications &
Actions,” one thing you can’t do from
here is adjust how long—five seconds—A
GETTING STARTED
Download Launchy from http://www.
launchy.net—you can either install it
or run it on demand as a portable app.
Once Launchy has, er, launched, it sits
unobtrusively in the Taskbar notification
area. To bring it into focus, press Alt-
Spacebar, then start typing the name of
what you’re looking for.B
SEARCH AND SELECT
An icon representing a program
pops up—if it’s the correct one, press
Enter. Wait a few seconds, and more
matching results—including web
links—appear via a drop-down menu.
Click one or use the arrow keys to scroll
through the list, pressing Enter when
you find your match.C
WIDEN LAUNCHY’S
SEARCH REMIT
Right-click the Launchy notification area
icon and choose the “Options > Catalog”
tab. Click “+” under “Directories” to add
additional folders to include, then with
the directory selected, click “+” under
“File Types” to list file types to search.
Finally, click “Rescan Catalog.”individual notifications appear on screen.
To change this setting, open Universal
Windows Tweaker to the “Customization
> Universal UI” tab. The slider enables
you to increase the time from five seconds
right up to 300 seconds. Alternatively,
you can disable them completely (check
“Disable Toast Notifications”).26
Replace Your Taskbar
The Windows Taskbar is efficient,
but not exactly visually pleasing. Fans of
the macOS dock should examine the free
version of WinStep Nexus (www.winstep.net), which combines a more eye-catching
aesthetic with functionality that renders
the Taskbar redundant. Not only does it
include all the expected features—drag
and drop shortcuts from your Start menu
or desktop to add them to the dock—but
you can also add modules such as email
checker and weather forecast gadgets.27
Tweak the
Alt-Tab Menu
It may not be as glamorous as the new
Timeline, but the Alt-Tab feature is still the
quickest way to switch between open apps
and windows on your PC. Tweak its looks
courtesy of Winaero Tweaker: Navigate to
“Appearance > Alt + Tab Appearance,”
where you’ll find sliders to adjust its
transparency, plus make the desktop
darker when it’s invoked.28
Minimalist Alt-Tab
You’ll also see an option to
“Enable Classic Alt + Tab Dialog”—check
this, then click “Restart Explorer” to
replace the thumbnails with a minimalist
icon-based task switcher, with the
currently selected icon’s window title
displayed beneath it to help you navigate.29
Multi-Display Settings
If you have two monitors
connected to your PC, head over to the
Taskbar settings, where you’ll see options
for configuring the Taskbar independently
on each display—we recommend
selecting “Taskbar Where Window is
Open” on the “Show Taskbar Buttons On”
drop-down menu, to avoid confusion.Adjust the time notifications appear (or disable them) using Ultimate Windows Tweaker.maximumpc.com SEP 2019 MAXIMUMPC 37