Microsoft Open-Sources PowerToys, Windows 10 Version Planned

[The AchieVer]

Microsoft Open-Sources PowerToys, Windows 10 Version Planned 

 

Long-time Windows users certainly remember PowerToys, as it was one of the most popular suites of tools supposed to enhance the operating system beyond the default feature lineup offered by Microsoft.

And while PowerToys was retired many years ago, the ambition that Microsoft is putting into making the open-source world a priority is close to bringing it back with a more modern approach.

The PowerToys project is thus being rebooted with the source code published on GitHub, and now Microsoft is calling for devs to contribute to the development of new features that would be included in a Windows 10 version of the app.

“PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity,” Microsoft says.

“Inspired by the Windows 95 era PowerToys project, this reboot provides power users with ways to squeeze more efficiency out of the Windows 10 shell and customize it for individual workflows.”Two features already in the worksMicrosoft says it’s currently working on two different features that would be included in the modern version of PowerToys for Windows 10, and one of them is a Windows key shortcut guide. This would show up when users press and hold the Windows key, thus helping them discover the available shortcuts and thus make the most of the hotkey support in Windows 10.

The other one is a maximize to new desktop widget that comes down to a pop-up button displayed when a user hovers the maximize button. When clicked, it maximizes the window on another desktop in Windows 10.

There are several other improvements that Microsoft is looking into, like a Win + R replacement, a keyboard shortcut manager, a full window manager, better Alt + Tab, a battery tracker, quick resolution swaps in the taskbar, and mouse events without focus.

You can see the full list and vote for the features you want to see in PowerToys on the GitHub page mentioned above.

 

 

Source

[mp68terr]

Tweak UI was probably the main tool used at that time... long ago indeed.

[DKT27]

Well, I do not feel so young anymore after reading this.

[Karlston]

The rebirth of Windows PowerToys. Not.

The hype machine is in high gear.

 

Latest headline: Microsoft re-releases Windows PowerToys, this time as an open source project.

 

Many of you have asked why I haven’t commented on the return of one of Windows’ most-beloved add-ons. It’s complicated.

 

The Win95 PowerToys were great. I wrote about them in many books and sang their praises in dozens (hundreds?) of articles.  But the “PowerToys” that Microsoft released aren’t PowerToys in the traditional sense of the term. They’re two add-ins that may or may not do what you want.

 

Here’s how I described the PowerToys in WinXP Hacks & Mods for Dummies:

The collection of programs known as Windows PowerToys started as kind of a “skunk works” project back in the early days of Windows 95. The folks who wrote the shell of Windows 95 built a whole lot of capability into the program that never saw light of day: tweaks and twiddles and (yes) hacks and mods that, thanks to The Powers That Be, never made it into Windows 95’s official feature set.

 

As the Windows 95 effort wound down, a few bored developers spent time perfecting their testing tools — their Power Toys. After Win95 hit the stands, some enterprising engineer convinced The Powers That Be to release those internal testing tools, to make it easier for guys in white lab coats (like me!) to dig deeper into the belly of the beast. The programs were unpolished, unsophisticated, hadn’t been designed or reviewed by committees, never saw the inside of a Microsoft Usability Lab@@mdand they proved wildly popular with the techie crowd.

 

The Powers That Be asked the engineers for more, and they gladly obliged, in many cases gleefully resurrecting features that TPTB had zapped from the shipping version of Win95. That’s how TweakUI came into being. The guys and gals who built all of these cool capabilities into Windows, only to see them clipped by the Bean Counters, Usability Droids, and Marketing Flaks, got a chance to strut their stuff. And, boy howdy, did they show those Bean Counters a thing or three.

The PowerToys had a great run with Win95 and then XP — and then Microsoft dropped them in Vista. The TweakUI PowerToy, in particular, had all sorts of capabilities that took many years for Microsoft to absorb into Windows. For years, the SyncToy stood out as the best way to sync files.

 

These new “PowerToys” don’t have the same genesis. They don’t cover the same ground. And they don’t have the same renegade spirit. But they do have one trait the old geezers didn’t: They’re open source, so anybody can go in and change them. Which is great.

 

Anyway, if either of these new “PowerToys” strike your fancy, by all means install them:

• Maximize to new desktop: Hangs off the restore button; click on it and Windows creates a new desktop with that app’s window maximized.
• Windows key shortcut guide: Hold down the Windows key and see all the shortcuts. Just like the Alt key in the Office programs.

Microsoft promises those two utilities will be out this summer (North America season), with a “backlog” of utilities they’re considering.

 

Source: The rebirth of Windows PowerToys. Not. (AskWoody - Woody Leonhard)