"A tidy desk is a sign of a tidy mind," my old boss used to mutter under his breath as he passed my office. And so it is with computer desktops. I try to keep my desktop space free from the clutter that inevitably builds up through daily use. The desktop is a great place to save temporary files that you’re working on, but it’s no place to archive your life’s collection of pointless and unwanted files. Those people whose desktops are littered with dead and decaying files leave me cold.
No surprise then that I really enjoyed this tip from the On10.net blog which reveals a clever little trick to rid your desktop immediately of all clutter, and permanently keep it tidy.
Another handy desktop tip for Windows Vista users, particularly those with wide screen monitors, is to relocate the sidebar from the right to the left side of the screen, and set it to be always on top of other windows. This keeps those useful sidebar gadgets in view at all times, as well as putting them in a more logical place*, just above your Start button.
* Seeing as most us in the western world read from left to right it always struck me as a bit daft that the default location for the sidebar is on the right of the screen. My personal desktop angst ended the day I realised I could move the sidebar to a more sensible location. And, thanks to the on10.net tip, I now smile inside every time my clean desktop appears!