• Why Do Windows From Other Desktops Suddenly Popup On The Current Desktop?
• Why Do Windows I've Closed Reappear When I Switch Back To A Desktop?
• Why Is A Window I've Copied To Multiple Desktops Unusable On Some Desktops?

Why Do Windows From Other Desktops Suddenly Popup On The Current Desktop?

• A good example of this problem is Microsoft Outlook 98 and Outlook Express. These programs employ a bad programming tactic, presumably to work around internal problems in these programs. When these programs are checking for email they can display a progress dialog. When the program is located on another desktop, the progress dialog is hidden by DesktopPlus. These programs frequently check if the progress window is hidden and re-display it if it is not. This causes the progress dialog to appear on other desktops.

  If you encounter an application that exhibits this behaviour please contact DesktopPlus, we'll do our best to persuade the author to make his application DesktopPlus-compatible. Many authors have already co-operated with DesktopPlus in modifying their applications to work better with DesktopPlus.

  Note: In well written programs, DesktopPlus' Reroute Orphaned Windows option (see the Options Dialog section for more details) automatically handles errant dialogs and popups.

  Programmers Note: If you are a programmer and would like information on how to make your applications 100% DesktopPlus compatible, please contact us.

• This only happens very rarely and again is the result of poor programming practice in the involved application. It is a generally accepted practice that when a user closes a window, that window is destroyed. However, some applications do not destroy such windows, they hide them instead. This is what DesktopPlus does when a user switches between desktops; it hides all the windows on the old desktop. If an application on an inactive desktop hides a window in this way, DesktopPlus will show it again, when the user switches back to the desktop.

  A future version of DesktopPlus may handle this problem.

  Again, we encourage users to report any such applications to us.

Why Is A Window I've Copied To Multiple Desktops Unusable On Some Desktops?

• This problem occurs where the user has a window active on multiple desktops (the user has copied the window to other desktops). When an application generates a modal dialog (i.e. a dialog that must be addressed by the user before the application can continue), the window which owns the dialog is disabled by Windows. The problem occurs when the dialog is generated on the current desktop, but is not addressed (the user ignores the dialog and does not click on it's OK or Cancel buttons). If the user now switches to one of the other desktops where the window has been copied, the user will not be able to use the window because it has been disabled, and it's related dialog is hidden on another desktop.

  A future version of DesktopPlus will probably handle this problem.

  Again, we encourage users to report any such applications to us.