06 March 2013

I know a lot of people have complained that Windows 8 replaced the start menu with the start screen. Personally I rather like the start screen in Windows 8, and haven’t felt the need to seek out a start menu replacement (like the popular Start8).

However, like a lot of people I run Win8 on multiple monitors (on my desktop and when I dock my laptop). Being able to run WinRT apps in only one window, and to really only see one app at a time is extremely limiting to power users or developers or people with multiple monitors.

About 90 minutes ago I installed ModernMix, a program from the creators of Start8 that basically fixes this whole issue. It allows WinRT apps to run in windows, so you can have multiple WinRT apps running at once, and on different monitors.

It is literally like unlocking the potential of Windows 8! Just 90 minutes later my love of Win8 and WinRT has jumped an order of magnitude (and keep in mind, I already really liked Win8).

The ability to have some of my favorite WinRT apps running and visible while using other WinRT apps and/or Win32 desktop apps improves productivity immensely.

For example, I really like Xaml Candy (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/8b9e2d69-feed-409c-befb-4ea97f97351a) and have always wished I could have it in one monitor while using Visual Studio in another. Now I can!

Similarly, the ability to have Feed Reader (http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/d03199c9-8e08-469a-bda1-7963099840cc) sitting in a window on my second monitor makes it much more useful. It never needed to consume all of my massive monitor space, and now it fits in a much more appropriately sized window.

Seriously, installing ModernMix is like night and day in terms of productivity for Windows 8. If you use multiple monitors and/or are a power user or developer you really want this tool.

(note, I don’t work for those guys, nor did I get the product for free – I’m just so happy with the results I wanted to share!)