VDesk

This is a fork of eksime/VDesk that support Windows 10 and 11. The main reason of the fork is that the original project seam to be abadonned.

Note : due to migration in .netcore, the command argument have change. If you install this version, you will need to addapt your usage of vdesk.

Install

Requirements

Windows 11 or Windows 10 build 19041 (20H1) and later
Dotnet/.NET Runtime at least 8 (e.g. download latest Long Term Support Version and there either .NET Runtime or .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0.4 - the first is sufficient for this app - from this page: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet )

Manual Install:

Unistall previous vdesk installation
Download vdesk from the releases page.
Unzip the archive and put the exe where you want
Add the location to your path

TODO: provide more info !!

Usage:

vdesk create <number>

vdesk run [options] <Command>

vdesk move [options] <ProcessName>

vdesk switch <Number>

Run vdesk [command] --help for more information about a command.

Examples:

Create total of 5 desktops:

vdesk create 5

Run notepad on virtual desktop number 4 without switching:

vdesk run -n -o 4 notepad.exe

Now the same in long syntax form instead of short:

vdesk run --no-switch --on 4 notepad.exe

Note: If VDesk doesn't work at first, check the program's command line options for ways to create a new window - For example Chrome has the /new-window argument which allows it to function with VDesk.

Move notepad on virtual desktop 5 half split to right

vdesk move --half-split right -o 5 notepad

Run a program on desktop n, and prevent switching to it:

vdesk run --on n --no-switch <command>

To launch notepad on current desktop:

vdesk run notepad

To launch notepad on desktop 3 and open C:\some file.txt using it as an argument:

vdesk run -o 3 notepad -a "C:\some file.txt"

To open Github in a new Chrome window on the second desktop split half screen to the left:

vdesk run -o 2 --half-split left "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" -a "/new-window https://github.com"

To launch a new Firefox using several arguments which also contain quotation marks use \" for escaping:

vdesk run --on 2 --no-switch "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -a "-P \"GPT-Nutzung\" -no-remote \"localhost:3000\""

Note: If you use powershell instead of cmd you cannot use that \" notation to handle the quotation in the arguments, use ' instead in the embracing qutotation marks:

vdesk run --on 2 --no-switch "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" --arguments '-P "GPT-Nutzung" -no-remote "localhost:3000"'

To launch an app that take time to open, use the Waiting argument. The time is specified in millisecond:

vdesk run --on 2 --no-switch -w 1000 "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE"

Copyright notice

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

LittleVaaty / VDesk