Comparison of multi-monitor software

PC setups with multiple monitors become more and more popular not only among professionals but also for home users (especially the simplest and most reasonable dual-monitor configuration). However, even modern versions of Windows, such as Windows 7, provides the very basic support for multi-monitor desktops.

The following table compares the software utilities which extend the multi-monitor abilities of the Windows operating system.

Features

\ Product \ Feature \	Actual Multiple Monitors	DisplayFusion	Dual Monitor Tools	MultiMon Taskbar	UltraMon	ZBar
Homepage	Homepage	Homepage	Homepage	Homepage	Homepage	Homepage
Price	$29.95 USD[1]	$24.95 USD[1]	Free	$28 USD[1]	$39.95 USD	Free
Version	3.4.1 Pro	3.4 Pro	1.4	3.0 Pro	3.1.0	0.81
Release	11.11.2011	02.10.2011	01.06.2010	Unknown	20.12.2010	13.12.2010
Supported OS	Windows 8[2] / 7 / Server / Vista / 2008 / XP / 2003 / 2000 (x86 / x64)	Windows 8[2] / 7 / Server / Vista / 2008 / XP / 2003 / 2000 (x86 / x64)	Windows 7 / Vista / XP	Windows 7 / Vista / 2000 / XP	Windows 7 / Vista / 2000 / XP (x86 / x64)	Windows 7 / Vista / XP
Multi-monitor Taskbar (emulation of the main Windows Taskbar on secondary monitors)
Individual mode[3]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mirror mode[4]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Support of Windows native visual themes[5]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Support of custom visual themes[6]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Start button[7]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Notification area[8]	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Clock	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Toolbars (Quick Launch, Desktop, Windows Media Player, etc.)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Semi-transparency	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Thumbnail previews	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Auto-hide	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Change taskbar buttons' alignment[9]	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Grouping similar buttons	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Multi-preview for group buttons	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Reordering taskbar buttons	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Reordering icons in the notification area	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Minimize all windows	Yes	Yes	Yes[10]	No	Yes[11]	No
Custom taskbar settings per-taskbar[12]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Advanced Windows 7 features
Pin buttons to taskbar	Yes	Partial[13]	No	No	No	No
State icons on buttons[14]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Progress indicators on buttons[15]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Aero Peek	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Control buttons in thumbnail previews[16]	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Show Desktop button	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Aero Shake	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Jump Lists	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Context menus for Jump List items	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Show hidden notification area icons in the special fly-out window	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
\ Product \ Feature \	Actual Multiple Monitors	DisplayFusion	Dual Monitor Tools	MultiMon Taskbar	UltraMon	ZBar
Multi-monitor Window Management
Fit to the monitor	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Group window operations	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Change specific window's position at startup	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes[17]	No
Specific settings for any application	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes[17]	No
Display window size and location when moving/resizing	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Move windows between monitors
Via additional title bar button	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Via additional command in each window's system menu	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Via hotkeys	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Via middle-click on window's title bar	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial[18]	No
Maximize windows to entire desktop
Via additional title bar button	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Via additional command in each window's system menu	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Via hotkeys	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Maximize windows just to selected monitors
Via additional title bar button	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Via hotkeys	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Snap windows
To desktop boundaries	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
To each other (from outside)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
To each other (from inside)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
To a customizable virtual grid	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Aero Snap on edges between monitors	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	No
Aero Snap emulation in XP/Vista	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Moving maximized windows
Via additional title bar button	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Via hotkeys	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Via mouse dragging	Yes[19]	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
\ Product \ Feature \	Actual Multiple Monitors	DisplayFusion	Dual Monitor Tools	MultiMon Taskbar	UltraMon	ZBar
Multi-monitor Background Wallpaper Management
Custom multi-monitor background[20]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Custom profiles	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Slideshow mode	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Auto-downloading wallpaper pictures from online media library	No	Yes[21]	No	No	No	No
Custom image sizing modes[22]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Custom color modes[23]	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Custom image position adjustments per-monitor[24]	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Custom image scaling per-monitor[25]	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Customizable text displayed on the desktop	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Multi-monitor Screen Saver Management
Custom multi-monitor screen saver[26]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Multi-monitor Display Management
Desktop profiles[27]	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Custom display settings for certain applications	No	Yes	No	No	Yes[17]	No
Toggle any secondary monitor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Assign wallpaper profile to desktop profile	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Switch desktop profiles via hotkeys	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Switch desktop profiles via title bar buttons	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Switch desktop profiles via Windows Desktop's context menu	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Activate desktop profile at program's startup	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Multi-monitor Mouse Features
Move mouse to next/previous/primary monitor via hotkeys	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Lock mouse within active window	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Lock mouse within current monitor (hard[28])	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Lock mouse within current monitor (soft[29])	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Shrink mouse locking area by custom size	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Custom actions in response to clicks on standard window parts	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Edgeless desktop[30]	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Other Options
Copy of the Alt-Tab Task Switcher on each monitor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Exclusions for certain applications	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Title bar buttons management	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Save/Restore position of desktop icons	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Ignore any secondary monitor	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Customize Windows Logon background image	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Hotkeys management
Customize key combinations	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Add custom hotkeys	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Mirroring
Entire monitor on two or more other displays	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Single window	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Selected part of desktop	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Area around the mouse pointer	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No

See also

• Multi-monitor

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Product has a freeware edition with limited functionality and some licensing restrictions.
2. ^ ^{a b} Developer Preview build (Build 8102).
3. ^ Each taskbar displays only applications running on its host monitor.
4. ^ All taskbars display all applications.
5. ^ Emulated taskbars look the same as the main taskbar with any native visual theme applied.
6. ^ Emulated taskbars look the same as the main taskbar with any custom visual theme applied.
7. ^ Secondary taskbars can display the Start button providing a quick access to the Start menu from any monitor.
8. ^ Secondary taskbars can display a copy of the notification area providing a quick access from any monitor to applications running in background.
9. ^ Option to align buttons to the left/right side of the taskbar.
10. ^ Via hotkey only.
11. ^ Via taskbar's context menu only.
12. ^ Each taskbar can have its own settings (including visibility on a specific monitor).
13. ^ Adding shortcut buttons to additional taskbars via special configuration window (essentially, it is an analog of Windows Quick Launch toolbar).
14. ^ Like Online/Away status for Windows Live Messenger.
15. ^ Like IE/Firefox/Chrome download indicators
16. ^ Like Previous/Play/Pause/Next buttons for Windows Media Player.
17. ^ ^{a b c} Via application's desktop shortcut.
18. ^ Requires to download an add-on.
19. ^ With the Aero Snap emulation enabled.
20. ^ Ability to stretch a single picture over entire composite desktop or set an individual picture on each monitor.
21. ^ Supports two media libraries: Flickr.com, Vladstudio.com.
22. ^ Set one of the available mode for each wallpaper (center, stretch, etc.).
23. ^ Overlaying the custom visual effect (Grayscale, Sepia Tone, Inverted, etc.) on the picture.
24. ^ Setting the offset for each wallpaper to the left/right/up/down (relative to the center, in pixels).
25. ^ Zooming of a wallpaper for each monitor.
26. ^ Ability to stretch a single screen saver over entire composite desktop or run an individual screen saver on each monitor.
27. ^ Ability to store various desktop configurations as named profiles and switch between them.
28. ^ Hard lock keeps the mouse pointer within current monitor unconditionally, until the lock is turned off.
29. ^ Soft lock holds the mouse pointer on the boundaries between monitors automatically for a specified time; if user continues dragging the mouse to another monitor longer than this time - the mouse crosses the boundary.
30. ^ Tool that automatically warps the mouse pointer to the opposite edge of desktop when user tries to drag the mouse beyond desktop limits.