A new Stardock utility called TouchTasks makes Windows 10 easier to use on tablets and other multitouch PCs.
“To make the Surface Pro and devices like it a much better tablet experience, we’re releasing TouchTasks 1.0,” Stardock’s Brad Wardell told me. “This is an app that takes advantage of the fact that the touch surface of a tablet extends slightly beyond the display area so you can define spots just off the screen that you can tap to have them do things.”
TouchTasks defines five areas—three on the top of the display and one each on the left and right—that you can tap to perform an action. There are some useful actions built-in, like a customizable application launcher (on the left by default) and a task switcher (on the right).
But you can also access a brightness control panel, the on-screen keyboard, recent documents, the Start menu, a quick nav panel, or Show desktop. Or you can launch any application or press a hotkey. It’s your choice.
TouchTasks works in both portrait and landscape modes, and it will rotate its touch points as you rotate the display. It doesn’t interfere with Windows 10’s built-in edge swipes, either, based on my initial testing.
TouchTasks normally costs $9.99 but it’s available for just $4.99 right now and you can grab a 30-day trial to see if it’s what you want.