DisplayFusion Pro 10.1.1 / 10.1.2 Beta 3

Winner Best software in 2014 - Desktops.

Overview

DisplayFusion Pro is a powerful multi-monitor manager that helps you configure your monitors and customize them for a more enjoyable experience. With this software you can add a taskbar to each of your monitors, set and edit wallpapers from your computer or load them from the internet, configure hotkeys for faster access of settings, adjust the location of windows and in which monitor you would like specific programs to open on, change Windows Logon screen and do many other things that you previously couldn’t.

Installation

The installation package is the same both for Free and Pro version. If you want to install the free version you just have to remove the license key from the box that appears in one of the installation steps. Before proceeding further into the setup, Windows Vista/7 users should know that they must install the program in the “Program Files” or “Program Files (x86)” folder so that DisplayFusion has the necessary privileges to run properly. After a few steps you are asked if you want the application to run at system startup and add DisplayFusion items in the context menu. In the same step you are asked to enter a license key, if you have one. Leaving that box blank means that you will be using the Free version, which includes a 30-free trial of the Pro version. The main installation begins shortly afterwards and finishes quickly.

Supported operating systems are Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 (preview) as well as Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2012 (preview).

Interface

First time you launch the program an introductive window will open, with an overview of the main features. After reading a preview for each feature you can then go to DisplayFusion’s configuration menu, which will bring up a window with a lot of settings and options. If you want to tweak how the program works even more, you can click on the “Advanced Settings” button located on the bottom right corner to open up a new window that has more settings. This is the application’s main interface, since all the other available features open up different windows. These can be accessed by right clicking on DisplayFusion’s system tray icon. Also, a new button will appear in the title of every window that moves it to another monitor.

Pros

It has a lot of useful features, but the most important ones are:

Multi-monitor taskbars, which help in keeping your windows more organized. The start button that is displayed in every taskbar gives you better accessibility to applications and files.

Hotkey functions. Plenty of hotkeys exist for performing various actions: moving a window to a different monitor and resizing it, moving all windows to current monitor, adjusting transparency and others. You can also create custom ones from the settings window.

Monitor configuration, so that you don’t have to keep looking for the settings you need in the control panel. It offers all the needed configurations to control your monitors’ color depth, resolution, refresh rate etc.

Window Location feature, with which you can specify applications that you want to be launched on specific monitors.

Windows logon background changer allows you to change Windows’ logon screen to anything you want.

Cons

Most of the features are not available in the Free version. Other than that, it is an excellent program with zero cons.

Alternatives

Actual Window Manager and Ultramon are two decent alternatives for managing multiple monitors, but compared to DisplayFusion they lack a lot of features, such as the Windows logon screen changer. DisplayFusion is also friendlier to the user regarding usage and display.

Conclusion

DisplayFusion Pro is a must have application for anyone who has multiple monitors connected. It includes powerful features and has extended functionality that gives you all the control you can have over your monitors. Highly recommended download.

Winner Best software in 2014 - Desktops.