This page discusses the Flip 3D feature and Instant Viewer feature. Windows customization for power users. Tested in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Press 【❖ Win+Ctrl+Tab ↹】 to go into Flip 3D. You get a preview of your windows and you can switch among them with scroll wheel or arrow keys.
Press 【Alt+Ctrl+Tab ↹】 to start Instant Viewer.
Instant Viewer lets you see all your windows in a glance. This feature is available since 2002.
Instant Viewer is better than Flip 3D, because:
If you have a Microsoft or Logitech mouse, you can use the bundled software to set a mouse button to activate Flip 3D or Instant Viewer. Or, you can set a single keyboard key for it, using IntelliType or AutoHotkey.
See: Windows Auto Raise; Single Click to Open File.
For programers, you probably want to show file extensions and full path.
This is under Control Panel, Folder Options. In particular, un-check the “Hide extensions for known file types”, “Display the full path in the title bar”, “Show hidden files and folders”.
You can set you system to require pressing 【Ctrl+Alt+⌦ Delete】 to start the login screen. The advantage is that this prevent the possibility of some rogue program spoofing as the login screen and steal your password. For some detail, see: Secure attention key.
To set it up, press 【❖ Win+r】, then type “netplwiz” in command prompt to start the Advanced User Accounts control panel. Then, check the box “Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete”.