random technical notes

• Windows Key + Tab = Aero Switch (keep holding Windows key and press Tab to cycle)
• Windows Key + E = Windows Explorer
• Windows Key + R = Run Command
• Windows Key + F = Search
• Windows Key + X = Mobility Center
• Windows Key + L = Lock Computer
• Windows Key + U = Ease of Access
• Windows Key + P = Projector
• Windows Key + T = Cycle Superbar Items
• Windows Key + S = OneNote Screen Clipping Tool (requires OneNote)
• Windows Key + M = Minimize All Windows
• Windows Key + D = Show/Hide Desktop
• Windows Key + Up = Maximize Current Window
• Windows Key + Down = Restore Down / Minimize Current Windows
• Windows Key + Left = Dock Current Window to the Left
• Windows Key + Right = Dock Current Windows to the Right
• Windows Key + ‘+’ = Magnifier
• Windows Key + Shift + Right = Moves Current Window to the Monitor on the Right
• Windows Key + Shift + Left = Moves Current Window to the Monitor on the Left
• Windows Key + [1-9] = Launches the corresponding program in the superbar (going left to right)
• Windows Key + Pause = Open System Info

Additional:

• Windows Vista hotkeys
• TechNet: Windows 7 Tips
• Navigate Windows Explorer More Quickly with These Keyboard Shortcuts

Video of this presentation (3 parts) will give you a brief overview of performance improvements done in Qt

Performance is a key component of usability and crucial for the user experience, especially in today’s modern user interfaces where graphical elements are being animated and transitioned. Bringing Qt Everywhere means a significant need for speed across desktop and embedded platforms. This presentation will give you a brief overview of performance improvements done in Qt, and will be highly interactive with hands-on sessions on how to squeeze every last drop of performance out of your Qt application.

The QGraphicsAnchorLayout is a very flexible layout, yet the concept is simple. By creating an anchor between two edges of two layout items you are giving the anchor layout a constraint to fulfill. In the simplest case you are just saying that the distance between the two layout edges should be a fixed distance. You can do this with the left, right, top, bottom and the “center edges” of any layout item. You can also have an edge that has several anchors connected to it. This is not possible with linear layout and it is partly possible with a grid layout. This allows you to build up the structure the layout should have. The layout will then try to fulfill the constraints you have given it by potentially growing or shrinking the layout items. You can also configure each anchor to grow or shrink if that is preferred.

Anchor layout joins the family of QGraphicsLayout

Qt Assistant: Indicates that the widget contents are north-west aligned and static. On resize, such a widget will receive paint events only for parts of itself that are newly visible. This flag is set or cleared by the widget’s author. (Link)

But also it prevents to avoid flicking during resizing.

The demo demonstrates the effect of setting the Qt::WA_StaticContents attribute on any widget in Qt 4.5

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC, available on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, allow you to run multiple Windows environments, such as Windows XP Mode, from your Windows 7 desktop.