Just out of curiosity, I've started playing with a desktop manager that comes with the KDE environment called Kompose.

What it is, is a virtual desktop manager that shows you scaled down versions of each application window in use on all of your virtual desktops within KDE.

It allows you to group your application windows in different ways, depending on the style that best suites your needs. It also uses little, in the way of system resources, and quite frankly, is an interesting way to navigate through your desktop.




In this example, I've got two applications running in my first virtual desktop session and two others in my second virtual desktop. The third and fourth sessions are empty at the moment.

I like the idea of having a bird's eye view of all of the applications I currently have running. However, I think this tool is better suited to a person who's in the habit of having several applications open at the same time. I usually only have open applications I'm immediately using, so rarely do I have more than four windows to switch between at any one time.

There are a few ways in which you can switch to the Kompose view. You can configure a hot-key, use the KDE system tray launcher icon, or set it us so it appears when you move your mouse pointer to a particular corner of your screen.

In practicality, I really don't see Kompose as a required replacement for your standard KDE task bar, it's just a different way of managing and navigating through your desktop environment.