Are you a Microsoft Surface user? Whether you have an older Surface Pro or are up-to-date with the most recent model, take a moment to read on about a snazzy little app called TouchTasks.

What is TouchTasks?

TouchTasks is a touchscreen app for Windows that creates “zones” on your device so that you can easily access apps and tasks.The zones are conveniently located on the edge of the screen and will work in both portrait and landscape modes. You can customize each zone by assigning certain tasks or applications to it, effectively organizing your touchscreen experience.

I have personally never used a Surface before, so I got in touch with our IT team at Stardock and borrowed a Surface Pro 2 that we had available. After I got it home and plugged it in, I booted it up and started to explore. The team was kind enough to load TouchTasks for me, so I got right to playing around with the zones and testing out what sorts of things I could assign to each.

The benefit of the zones is immediately apparent to me, especially as a new Surface user who is just starting to become acclimated to the device. While I don’t have many applications loaded onto it right now, I imagine that if I were to use the Surface much more consistently that it would all fill up very quickly. 

Assigning Zones

I especially like that I can assign my task switcher panel to a zone. Considering how clumsy I am with a touchscreen device, anything that makes it easier to get around is a definite bonus! Rather than having to go rooting around to find them, I can also assign multiple apps to a given zone so that they show up on the menu when I tap the zone.

Using zones to toggle the keyboard on and off is especially great when I’m just using the Surface in its tablet mode. I didn’t really explore assigning custom hotkeys to zones very much, but that option is there if you’re the type of user who would benefit from that!

My personal favorite thing to assign to a zone, however, is recent documents. I love being able to find something I was working on or looking at quickly and easily. Plus, I do also really like that I can make a zone just return me to the desktop.

A Must for Surface Users

I will definitely be playing with the Surface for a while to see if it fits into my workflow. If I like it enough, I may consider a newer model - and I can tell you for sure that if I upgrade, TouchTasks is definitely coming with me.

Have you tried TouchTasks? Share your stories with me!