The Windows 7 preview post on LH inspired this script:
http://lifehacker.com/5078582/top-10-things-to-look-forward-to-in-win...

Grab the active window's title bar and "shake" it back and forth, and
all other windows minimize to the taskbar.  I've tried it on both
Vista and XP.

Not done yet: Shake the window again and the other windows restore.
The question becomes which windows to restore: all of them? maintain a
list of the ones previously minimized, which may or may not still be
open?  I guess I need to know how it should function before I code the
second half.

Let me know what you think.  Also, it may need a GUI to adjust the
"shake parameters" (how far, how many times back-n-forth, time period).

Nice stuff, I really like this, but it needs a few fixes, it doesn't
work for office 2007 under vista (when you shake nothing happens).
Also, I think the minimizing should only affect other windows on that
screen (or make this a boolean option), so when I just wanna clear one
screen it doesn't wipe out everything on both :)

Otherwise, nice work!

On Nov 9, 6:11 am, bobbo33 <menke.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for the feedback.  I forgot about Office 2007, it doesn't
follow windows conventions for controls (or colors or fonts or... but
I digress).  And I really like your multimonitor idea, that will be a
nice enhancement.  I'll see what I can do.

So how do you think the restore ought to work?  In my mind, the "undo
minimize" really only helps if you accidentally shake a window and you
want it undone.  Normally, after the shake you'll proceed with
arranging other windows in the space you cleared out, so the undo
would just be confusing later on.  I'm thinking the undo would only be
available until you open/move/restore another window.

I just uploaded the updated script.  Three improvements:
1. Works with Office 2007 (unfortunately, it assumes a fixed titlebar
height of 26 pixels, anyone know a better way?)
2. For multimonitor setups, option to only minimize windows on current
monitor (default on)
3. If all windows are minimized, shake restores the other windows

Okay, just published this one on the site. Keep your eyes open for bug
reports/feedback! :)

http://lifehacker.com/5082279/aero-shake-clears-your-pre+windows-7-de...

I was just wondering: did you consider using Win-D and then restoring
the active window (or finding some other way to keep it active)? This
could alleviate some of the lag involved in separately minimizing
Windows.

I'm guess you considered this, so maybe there's a reason you didn't
take that route?

Fire in the hole!

Seriously Adam, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I didn't think this
utility was ready for the full LH community yet.  In my mind, this
group is for closed alpha/beta testing, where we eliminate bugs, add
features, and polish.  I'm no marketing guy, but people have an
expectation of quality when something gets posted on Lifehacker.

And because it's open source, one person may start the ball rolling,
but other people can contribute as well.  I only got one feedback, and
it's already out there!

That said, I got several good suggestions from the LH comments:
1. Add a GUI for configuring shake parameters (Adam, does the LH legal
team want any logo, copyright, disclaimer, etc.?)
2. Add "fast minimize" mode a la Win+D (easy to do, but the downside
is that your active window disappears momentarily, which annoyed me
when I tried it - I'll make it a GUI option so the user can choose
which mode they prefer)
3. Remember which windows to restore
4. Exception list to help people with Sidebar, Samurize, etc.

Would you rather me post these fixes one-at-a-time as I get to them,
or wait until it's fully ready?

On Nov 10, 2:26 pm, "Adam Pash" <adam.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey bobbo33, I appreciate your comments.

We've released a lot of small utilities just like this one on
Lifehacker, and generally we've followed a pretty loose
release-first-polish-later structure so we can get reader feedback as
soon as possible. That said, I understand where you're coming from,
and I apologize for not giving more forewarning/discussing it first.
From now on I'll ask for explicit permission before publishing a
script on LH.

LH/Gawker Legal doesn't put many restrictions on our software--again,
it's been pretty seat-of-our-pants. However, if you check out some of
the Lifehacker Code projects we've created
(http://lifehacker.com/t/lifehacker-code/), I'd love it if we could
get similar branding/about pages/etc. And yeah, a disclaimer is never
a bad idea. :)

I don't know if this is at all possible, but is there any way the
active window could be set to an always-on-top mode before Win+D is
invoked, then set back to normal after that?

I'd say put together a to-do list of what you think are the most
important improvements, then roll that into a new release. My goal was
that we release early and often with these so we can engage the
readers in the process as well. Again, though, I apologize for the
hasty release... it's a particularly timely utility, so I wanted to
push it to the head of the line, as it were.

New release posted with a _bunch_ of improvements.  Highlights:
; v1.2 2008-11-11 Fix bug to reset shake count if left mouse button is
continually held down
;                 Fix bug in GetMonitorAt so minallmonitors works
correctly for multimonitor configurations
;                 Add quick minimize mode to suppress window animation
;                 Add AeroShake.ini file for configuration
;                 Add tray icon GUI (title, about, settings)
;                 Add WinGetInOrder to preserve taskbar icon order in
window hide/show operations

I've tested in on an XP Home desktop, Vista laptop, and an XP Pro
workstation with dual monitors.  Adam, based on your "early & often"
comment, this one is improved enough to release if you wish.

To-do's:
1. Exception list to help people with Sidebar, Samurize, etc.
2. Instead of an INI file, edit configuration with a nice GUI
(checkboxes & sliders)
3. Test some different multi-monitors (volunteers needed - BYOM)
4. Better way to detect titlebar height, instead of fixed number
5. Is a timer needed (for example, shake has to occur within 5 seconds
or the back-and-forth counter starts over again)

;v1.3 2008-11-12  Fix bug in multimonitor mode so taskbar icon order
is maintained

Nice work! I'm posting a quicklink to the update later today. :)

On Nov 12, 10:40 am, bobbo33 <menke.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:

Found a bug: Shaking an application modal dialog box minimizes that
dialog's parent, which in turn minimizes the dialog itself. This
leaves the app in a state where it cannot be restored at all. This was
done with an internal company application running on Eclipse RCP. I'll
see if I can replicate on something else that you can work with.

Expected behavior should be that other applications get minimized, but
not the dialog's parent.

Good catch.  I just posted v1.4 that fixes this problem.

Hi guys!
I found this little app somewhere online and now I'm totally addicted!
I can't seem to find version 1.4 nor where to download the latest
version (could you post it please?) but I found a couple of bugs on
version 1.3:

  - when I shake to bring back minimized windows the window I was
shaking doesn't stay on top of the restored ones
  - I'm using wlm9 wave 3 + messenger plus! (www.msgpluslive.com) and
when I shake a chat window it minimizes it.

Hope you fix this soon =)
Best regards

On 16 Nov, 17:58, bobbo33 <menke.rob...@gmail.com> wrote:

v1.4 should fix the issues you mentioned - the Autohotkey source is
located in the files section of this forum.  Here's a direct link:
http://lifehacker-coders.googlegroups.com/web/AeroShake+(5).ahk?gda=w...

If you need an executable, download Autohotkey from www.autohotkey.com
and use the built-in compiler utility that's included.  It's pretty
straight-forward.

i got one suggestion, add a value in the ini file for the max distance
(in pixels) that is comsidered a shake. i like to use it on a low
shake count (2), and when i move the window across the screen, it
sometimes consider it as a shake, and minimizes all the windows. im
also an autohotkey programmer, so i added it to the source myself:

in the ini creation part, add: IniWrite,100,AeroShake.ini,Shake
Detection,Max Distance
in the ini reading part, add:
IniRead,temp,AeroShake.ini,Shake Detection,Max Distance
shake_maxdistance := temp
and in the function that detects shakes:
replace if ( (x-xstart) > shake_distance ) with if ( (x-xstart) >
shake_distance && (x-xstart) < shake_maxdistance )
and replace else if ( (xstart-x) > shake_distance ) with else if
( (xstart-x) > shake_distance && (xstart-x) < shake_maxdistance )

keep on the good work, this thing is great.

another tweak: shake count reset interval. so that when you slowly
cycle or move windows around the screen, they wont get minimized.

in the ini write add:
IniWrite,700,AeroShake.ini,Shake Detection,Reset Interval

in the ini read add:
IniRead,temp,AeroShake.ini,Shake Detection,Reset Interval
shake_resetinterval := temp

in STARTMOUSESHAKE add:
SetTimer,RESETCOUNT,%shake_resetinterval%,2147483647

in CLEARMOUSESHAKE add:
SetTimer,RESETCOUNT,Off

lastly, add a label called RESETCOUNT and write the following in it:
xcount := 0
return