WindowsPager is an easy-to-use tool which brings virtual desktops to Windows 2000 and later.

At its simplest, the program simply gives you a little more space to work. So if you've filled up one desktop, say, just click one of the other buttons on the taskbar and you'll have another empty desktop to play around with. Which means you might have a browser maximised in one desktop, Excel maximised in another, Explorer in a third, Notepad and a few smaller apps open in the other, whatever you like - you can then switch from one desktop to another with a click.

Life doesn't always work out quite so neatly, of course, and so occasionally you'll want to reorganise your desktop arrangements. WindowsPager allows you to drag and drop windows from one desktop to another, or you can simply right-click a window's title bar and choose to move it to whichever desktop you like. (The new menu includes a handy option to set the window "always on top", too.)

You prefer keyboard shortcuts? They're available, too, enabling you to switch from one desktop to another without ever touching the mouse.

And if you're normally nervous about this kind of low-level system tweakery, we are too, but WindowsPager is less likely to cause problems than many similar tools.

First, the program is portable, there's nothing to install, so if it proves incompatible with some part of your system then the worst that might happen is you'll need to reboot.

And second, WindowsPager is extremely lightweight, using under 4MB RAM on our test PC. You should be able to use the program just about anywhere without worrying about the drain on your system resources.