The Pros and Cons of Task Switching

[Jeff Kirvin]

I stopped using WISbar today. I've lost count of how many times I've switched back and forth from WISbar to GigaBar to PocketNav to the stock HP Task Switcher that came with my Jornada to not even that.<br /><br />Skinnable title bar replacements like WISbar and Gigabar look cool, and they make jumping from one app to another a simple one-tap process, but they also take up significant system resources and have a tendency to lock up on me at the worst moments.<br /><br />Pocket Nav and the stock switchers that come with devices (HP Task Switcher, the iPaq's iTask, etc.) are much smaller and stay out of the way, but they're also more of a pain to get to.<br /><br />Sometimes -- okay, now -- I get to thinking that maybe I'd be happier just sticking with the system as Microsoft originally designed it, using the Start Menu's recent app cache to toggle between stuff and the Memory Settings applet to close hogging applications, and don't worry about the rest. Very un-Type A of me, but it's refreshing, in a way.<br /><br />Until I see the newest cool WISbar skin...

[tbsteph]

:D
And I thought I was the only one who went through these sorts of gyrations. I do the same think with DashBoard - Today I like it, tomorrow I don't.

Tom in Surprise - Arizona That Is!!

[Kirk Stephens]

PocketNav is my personal favorite. It is simple and does the job.

[marlof]

Although I love the idea that things like Dashboard and Gigabar exist, I like to keep my Pocket PC clean and simple. Currently, I'm not even using anything else than the built in PPC 2002 theme.... I'm not that much into personalization.

I used to have Wisbar installed on the Pocket PC 2000, with hardly a skin, and the most limited feature set. As Wisbar blocked my connection icon on the Pocket PC 2002 I switched to PocketNav, and that one stayed on.

[Jeff Kirvin]

And I thought I was the only one who went through these sorts of gyrations. I do the same think with DashBoard - Today I like it, tomorrow I don't.

Yes, I'm a registered and occasional user of Dashboard as well. Right now I'm making do with the stock Today page and some freeware plugins, but I might switch back (and pick up WISbar again) when Chris finishes the Pocket PC 2002-compliant enhanced mail module.

It's a sickness...

[chasetoys]

speaking of these products, i have dloaded wisbar's update to allow you to close an app by holding the x button down. i lost the url to that site that came up with the update, and as i recall, i remember that the developer said there would be updates. would anyone happen to have this url?

thanks

[Jeff Kirvin]

speaking of these products, i have dloaded wisbar's update to allow you to close an app by holding the x button down. i lost the url to that site that came up with the update, and as i recall, i remember that the developer said there would be updates. would anyone happen to have this url?

http://www.pelmarinc.com/

[Timothy Rapson]

I just use PPC 2002. I do wish I could delete the programs listed there that I NEVER use. Email, Windows Media, etc. On top of that I have Word on the icon bar at the very top where the last 6 programs I've used always are, and again on the menu just below that. Why have both there?

Anyway, I don't have any problem getting to the programs I want to use with just the built-in software, so why mess it up. Hacks come and go. Mostly they go for me.

[chasetoys]

thanks jeff, this board sure responds quickly, and i like being a member now rather than watching from the edges :)

[stevew]

I used a task switcher when PPC's only had 16-32 mb system memory. Now with 64 mb I don't use any task switcher. The only add-on I use is Dashboard and still I use a stock theme. I'm not much for all the personalized stuff that hog resources. I'm the same way on my desktops, the less overhead the better IMO. I use my PPC for business and use it heavely for it's PIM (Pocket Informant). No gaming either. Sounds boring doesn't it :)

[rubberdemon]

Actually Timothy: you can delete items from your start menu. Just go into the Windows/Start Menu folder using file explorer and you can add, delete and rename the shortcuts there - so you could really strip your PPC down to basics...

[zucchini]

i am using the one that come with Pocket Facelift!! it is a great program with all the thing i need on the today page!! :)

[Gordo]

Since I have upgraded to PPC 2002 I have nothing but problems with my resources (the lack of them), could it be that Wisbar and Dashboard are hogging a lot of memory? Performance with these products and PPC 2002 also seems painfully slow at times.

[eric linsley]

ive used both giga abr and dash board in the past and ive never been real inmpressed with either one

curently i still have dashboard loaded umm.. "deleate"
umm.. had dashboard on my ipaq

my problem with theese items is that they do take up alot of resources and may slow down your device or worse freeze it up

well thats my 2$

[JMountford]

I Pretty Much only use iTask on my iPaq. I have Pocket Blinds loaded but it seems like these types of apps are so darn glitchy and use too much precious memory.

[Mr. Anonymous]

I used to be a diehard Gigabar user, but since switching to Pocket PC 2002 I've been using Pocket Nav. It's small, easy to use, and doesn't obscure the built in menubar icons on PPC 2002.

For my today screen, I seem to flipflop monthly between Dashboard and a combination of the regular today screen with a launcher module and Developer One's Agenda and Task View Today. I can't wait to see what Alex comes up with for the Today plugin for Pocket Informant!

[eric linsley]

i geuss another reason why i have realy stopped using otehr applications is that i find using subfolders does about the samething for me

i creaet game folders with sub fodlers ie. puzzels, emulators, staredgy ect.. as wel as sub folders for media ie realpayer, wmp pocet tv and divx as well as flash
i also create a other folder that has stuff i almsot never ever use

ah wel i wish i found one that was jsut irght

also does anyone know how to alter icons

for instace is there any way i could make folder look loke something else musch like th game folder??

[disconnected]

I used to use Dashboard and Wisbar, but I guess I'm still waiting for them to be totally stable before installing them to my 3830. My iPaq PPC2K2, in general, is slower and less stable than my 3630 PPC was. (I guess this is not the thread where I should whine about the new PIE).

Right now I'm using a combination of iTask and ZapIt, which is not too bad, although I still miss Dashboard/Wisbar.

[QYV]

I just uninstalled WisBAR last night, but only because I use it for one thing (closing apps) and I decided to switch to ZapIt!, which maps to a hardware button. WisBAR to me was just a fix for Microsoft's refusal to provide an actual "Close" button - as long as I have some means of quickly closing an app, I'm good, and a hardware button is about as quick as it gets.

With PPC 2000, I used Compaq's Qmenu (or whatever it was called), as it was fast and easy to kill all programs or just one. That's why I put up with the extra button press vs. WisBAR or a similar program. With the 2002 upgrade, the iTask app felt really slow and the UI to modify it was appallingly bad, so that's what pushed me to switch to WisBAR.

I've never felt a need to use an third-party task switcher application to open or move between applications. I have a hardware button mapped to Word (which is 80% or more of my iPAQ use), the Start Menu (which has my 9 most-often-used programs) and iTask (which I've painfully managed to modify to give one-tap access to three commonly-used Settings). From power-off state, that gives me one button press -> one tap to access anything I use more than once a week - all with the stock MS task switching. That's efficient enough for me.

The one thing that did intrigue me recently was Scott Seligman's Launcher app for the Today screen, mostly because I don't use any other Today screen plug-ins and there's a lot of wasted space there. However, when I tried to make shortcuts to a lot of my commonly-used applications and settings, several didn't work and many of the icons didn't register correctly. The latter problem was the real killer since there isn't any way to get the names of the apps on the Today screen - you have to rely on the icons. Anyone have better luck than I did with Launcher?

[Ed Hansberry]

I use PocketNav. The problem with the MRU list on the Start menu is it only tracks apps started from the Start menu. If you launch an app from an attachment in email, from File Explorer or from another app, like Launcher that resides on your Today Screen. And when the MRU does work, it often takes you to the main app, effectively cancelling any open dialog box you had. Just try to set up an a connectoid using info from eWallet and toggling between the Connection Manager dialog boxes and eWallet using the MRU list. Pffft. :cry:

Pocket Nav could use a bit more polish and I wish it was in the middle of the title bar rather than in the corner, but it is still quite simple, has never locked up on me (thought it should run at a higher priority to prevent its process from being starved) and is always installed on my PPC.

[Ed Hansberry]

The one thing that did intrigue me recently was Scott Seligman's Launcher app for the Today screen, mostly because I don't use any other Today screen plug-ins and there's a lot of wasted space there. However, when I tried to make shortcuts to a lot of my commonly-used applications and settings, several didn't work and many of the icons didn't register correctly. The latter problem was the real killer since there isn't any way to get the names of the apps on the Today screen - you have to rely on the icons. Anyone have better luck than I did with Launcher?

I've used it flawlessly for nearly two years. Your best bet is to just copy shortcuts from \windows\start menu\programs rather than creating your own. I've never had a problem with it. The only time an icon messes up is when I have an app on a storage card and the storage card isn't inserted. THen I get that plain white box.

[fgarcia10]

:? Wow!
What else you guys have running in your ppc?
I can't notice any difference with or without Wisbar and I tried very hard; I even opened like ten aplications and had WM played a video at the same time.

[Jeff Kirvin]

:? Wow!
What else you guys have running in your ppc?
I can't notice any difference with or without Wisbar and I tried very hard; I even opened like ten aplications and had WM played a video at the same time.

WISbar is quicker than Gigabar, but it locked up on me twice today. Granted, I'm using the latest beta (&lt;--Note: BETA) but it's just not worth the lockups. I also noticed that it seems to "interfere" with other apps in strange ways (File Explorer often locks up when moving or deleting files while WISbar is running).

Of course, in a week I'll get bored with the stock switcher and go back to WISbar or PocketNav. :roll:

[Lotto]

I still like BananaPC by Snoopsoft, it's small and efficient, here's a review on it:


http://www.pocketnow.com/reviews/bananapc/banana.htm

[John Hung]

I used to use Dashboard and Gigabar, which was fine but I struggled with setting Gigabar everytime. It is a powerful program that is very user unfriendly. A couple of months ago I came upon PocketSTM 2002 by White Dolphin Solutions. It is a great Navigation bar replacement program that is very easy to set up and quite powerful. I like new skins but as far as navigation bar is concerned it is not a big deal.

When I had some program problems, they responded back to me within no time and provided me with newly revised version of the software that corrected the problems I reported.

I highly recommend everyone to check it out. www.wdolphin.com

[trevleyb]

I tried GigaBar (didn't like it), used WisBar for a while (quite liked it), bought Dashboard but got rid of it, but now I use PHM's Task Manager (the one that is similar to the Windows2K TaskMgr app whicj also shows you resource usage etc). Very nice. Also, I use Conduits Pocket Launcher to launch my apps rather than the Program Manager.

Now for something completely different: What about this new one that has not been released yet:

http://www.jgui.net/XPPC/

Looks interesting!

Trevor

[l0o5er]

Since moving to PPC2002 I have missed Wisbar & found Compaq's iTask to be clumsy.

But a few weeks ago I found that http://tillanosoft.com had produced a new version of their ProgramMenu application & called it SmallMenuPlus. It offers combined application laucher & taskbar in the form of a pop-up menu which can replace the built in Start Menu.

It doesn't have any skinning capabilities (I personally find that the PPC2002 Themes are enough for me) but in my opinion does what it designed for extremely simply & effectively. Give it a go. They have both a freeware & shareware version.

Mitch

[Marc Zimmermann]

I've tried PocketNav and WIS Bar as well as QUtilities/iTask/HP Task Switcher and ended up using the Start Menu.

Actually, I don't even care much about killing taks. The Smart Minimize X in Pocket PC 2002 is working well enough for me. Occasionally, I clean up by doing a soft reset (especially after using memory hogs like TomTom's RoutePlanner and CityMaps), but that happens about twice a month.

My wife uses her Pocket PC 2000 iPAQ for several months without a single reset or killing tasks. She just launches applications and games from Dashboard's icon view and the rest just works.

[Chubbergott]

I'm a sod for customisation (just so's I can show off) and for looks appeal, I truly loved StarTap but when Dashboard came along, I fell in love. A major plus point for dashboard, frmo my opinion, has been the high quality of support available and the (fairly) regular updates.

But, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who went through cycles of purity (nothing) and impurity (Gigabar and the rest). As long as I was only doing some PocketWord, I didn't mind the lack in performance but they sucked all the life out of PocketExcel, particularly in conjunction with a screen rotator/resolution increaser like JSLandscape or NYDITOT.

Mind the goose.

[Marc Zimmermann]

One of the major drawbacks of Dashboard that make it virtually useless for me is the lack of a scrolling feature. It just cuts off the list of items at the end of the screen.

[helloboys]

I tend to use iTask and the Start menu. I have no real pattern; just whatever I happen to use.

Edit: That JGUI looks very impressive. If it's fast, stable and flexible, I may take a look at it when it's released.

[van_mierlo]

I dropped wisbar since I got the ppc 2002 and really realized the today themes availabilty compared to dashboard.
I also just dropped wisbar because of system resources, however I used it alot on my ppc 2000, but the iTask is working good enough for me now

[JohnnyFlash]

These programs don't - or shouldn't - take up system resources. They should just sit there, perhaps refreshing once a minute, using very little memory and next to no CPU cycles.

[Jason Lee]

I used WIS bar forever on my PPC 2000 ipaq, but stopped when i got my new 3835. I don't want to loose all the cool built in functionality. So, I suffered along with itask and the wonderful program, Zap-it.

Just this last week I downloaded the demo for Stellametrics GO. Within a few hours of playing with it I bought the full version. It is the best task manager I have EVER seen. You can't even tell it is running. It places itself over the windows flag in the top left corner of your screen. If you click the flag you get the go menu and if you click the text in the bar you get the regular start menu as usual. You can also assign a tap and hold function for go and assign it to a hardware button. It has a built in memory meter that changes the colors of the squares on the windows flag to red as you become lower on memory. You can also skin the button by dropping a "go.bmp" in the windows directory. Even thought Stellametrics says that it has to be a .bmp i tried a .gif because I wanted a transparent color it worked. (Some little refresh odities but it worked)

Everyone needs Go. It is the best. I was so excited after I bought it. I went home and showed my girlfiend how it worked and later that night showed my mom. They both looked at me and shook their heads... Well, I'm sure some of you know what I mean.

Anyway, GET GO! Is good!

(disclaimer: I don't work for Stelametrics or know anyone who does. This is just one of the best programs I have ever used)


http://www.stellarmetrics.com/Software/go26.htm

[Doug Raeburn]

These programs don't - or shouldn't - take up system resources. They should just sit there, perhaps refreshing once a minute, using very little memory and next to no CPU cycles.


I always thought this was the case as well. And it certainly reflects my experience with WisBar. I've been using it for a long time, and I've never noticed any performance degradation, and it's *never* crashed on me. This is on 4 different Pocket PCs of different brands, and WisBar has been fast and stable on all 4.

The first and foremost reason that I can't change to anything else is that I rely so much on the "running application" icons in the task bar. The only other switchers that I've seen that do this are Gigabar (don't get me started) and PocketSTM, a product that seemed OK, but it seemed to lack the elegance of WisBar.

And now that Pelmar has taken over development (I like their version the best of those currently available), WisBar leverages the interface of Pocket PC 2002 quite well, at least as of Beta 5. The "Next Appointment" and Volume displays are easily accessed, unlike before. Frankly, I'd like to see Pelmar charge a nominal fee, rather than making it freeware, so it provides enough revenue to support continued development.

[st63z]

Besides Pelmar, isn't Scott (the Dashboard guy) also working on WisBar?

I'd be really happy if WisBar can in fact be made to work seamlessly with PPC 2002. I had thought that by its very nature PPC 2002 requires almost all of the taskbar space and thus that apps like WisBar inherently must conflict with something?

Anyways, I use Dashboard with customized versions of the built-in Blue and Green/Brown themes (customized so I can fit the maximum number of things on screen at once). It looks cluttered, but I like it (I also don't care much for pretty looks). I wish Scott would go ahead and improve the Snoopsoft Today Mydash module, though...