MAC007  Nice application that needs a customizable Apple menu like Fruitmenu provided and needs a fix for the icon display problem under Snow Leopard. The icons are too tiny in the task bar and nothing in the applications settings will fix it. I had no problem with this under Leopard.  
(Version 1.4)

DRDUL  I like this, despite its similarity to the Windoze taskbar. :-)

I am using it on a Mac Pro with dual 30-inch monitors. My left monitor has the menubar at top and the dock at the bottom. My right monitor now has Fantasktik at the top. When I'm working on the right monitor and want to switch windows or apps, my mouse now has an alternative to the dock that requires less movement to reach.

I like how Fantasktik provides an always-on display of which apps are active and what windows are open, even windows that have been minimized to the app's dock icon. The preview feature is nice, but the way it is coded means that previews of short wide windows appear much larger than previews of tall narrow windows. I have the preview size set as large as possible, and checking into the plist file I see a figure of 275, which appears to be the maximum height of the preview image in pixels. The developer should code it so that this number applies as a maximum to both the height and width of the window, and should allow for sizes of up to, say, 500 pixels. This change would better "equalize" the size of preview windows, regardless of how narrow or wide, short or tall they are.

I like that the colours of the Fantasktik bar can be adjusted. I fiddled around with them, and discovered that I can turn off the background colour by making the opacity of it 0%, which allows windows under the bar to show through. This is particularly useful, as on a 30-inch monitor my Fantasktik bar is often only half full. There's no point obscuring part of the screen with a blank bar.

I also like that all the windows of an app can be collapsed into an app's icon in the Fantasktik bar by double-clicking the icon. I use this for apps for which I typically only have one window open, like Path Finder and 1Password. Fantasktik can be set to remember the collapsed/expanded state of every app, so Path Finder and 1Password will always appear collapsed into the app icon (unless I choose to expand the windows out of the icon).

There's so much to like, but there's one glaring omission. As others have requested, Fantasktik desperately needs a hot-key for keyboard access, and the ability to navigate between windows with the keyboard. If this feature was incorporated, I would assign the hot key to one of the buttons on my Logitech mouse, and would use SteerMouse to assign the scroll wheel to the arrow keys (or whatever) to allow me to navigate between windows. It may already be possible to use the scroll wheel this way, but if so, I couldn't figure out how to do it.

The current version of Fantasktik is not without bugs. I experienced weird behaviour when I right-clicked and selected "Exposé" or "Close Window." Some of the time this would work, but other times it caused A Better Finder Attributes to launch (huh?) or some weird window I've never seen before to open.

Despite these glitches and the lack of a hot key, I'll probably buy Fantasktik when my 15-day trial period ends. It already offers enough functionality to justify the $10 price. If a hot key and keyboard navigation are added, and if the weird behaviour on right-click is fixed, it will be a great deal at $10.  
(Version 1.4)

FRANKNS  I'm not quite sure I like this ...

It feels like a guilty pleasure. It's a little too much like the Windows Task Bar to feel really "Mac-like," but it does do the job well. Very nice to be able to navigate to individual windows crisply, seeing what's in the window before I land there. I've always use 'Witch" for this kind of navigation in the past. If it had a hot key to move between windows ... more people would use Fantasktik.  
(Version 1.4)

JO*  Hotkey to invoke please. Otherwise too much mileage on the mouse.  
(Version 1.4)

GORDON142  This is a seriously cool update. It addresses most of the pressing limitations of this app present in other versions. It's really nice being able to close windows in any application easily. I have never found the earlier versions quite good enough to use all the time, but this really is a huge improvement.  
(Version 1.4)

EASER  Having fixed the problem I identified in an earlier commentary, I opted to purchase this program but never went back to review it. I am considerably delighted with Fantasktik. First, the developer is responsive and open to ideas. Second, it works very well and has some very nice customization options. Third, it does not slow down my system. Finally, although I like Unsanity's Windowshade and its minimize-in-place feature, I also find that the most current version slows down my system. And given that it took them nearly 2 years to actually finally get that feature fixed, I'm not optimistic about what will happen with Snow Leopard. I find that Fantasktik provides a nice alternative to minimize-in-place.

I highly recommend that you check this program out. I've tried literally all of the other window-switching programs out there, and this has been the fastest, most reliable of them for me.   
(Version 1.3.2)

LARSEN2K4  Just tested it, bought it and got my license... Great piece of software - really handy while working with many apps at once ... reminds me of the new Windows 7-Taskbar ... anyhow - a great Extension to the Dock! :)  
(Version 1.3.2)

TOMIS  Alternate ways of interacting with the computer are always good I think. This has a surprising number of bugs for a 1.3 release, including the inability to display previews for windows of hidden apps. It just displays empty black rectangles for those windows.  
(Version 1.3.1)

DOCKLAND  If you downloaded the latest version of Fantasktik and your preference panel shows "version 1.2.2", we recommend you download and install 1.2.3 .  
(Version 1.2.3)

THEBRIX2008  Very nice application - better than Exposé as it displays minimised as well as normal windows and is not so obtrusive. The only minor bug I have come across is that the thumbnail view of windows momentarily flicks on and off whenever the mouse pointer crosses a window button on its way to the Menu Bar; a "dwell time" could be introduced.

It would be worth having more display options. For example, the application icons could be removed from beside the window buttons; they are small to the point of losing clarity. Also, minimum and maximum window button sizes could be set, and transparency made adjustable. Finally, the button bar could be displayed down the left or right of the window, to exploit the mouse pointer's stopping at the edge of the screen (if Spaces is not used).  
(Version 1.2.1)

WILLIAMD  *** WARNING ***

Destructive application.

Deletes 'Login' items from secondary user account.

This app may work for the Admin user, but it (a) does NOT work for secondary users, and (b) Deletes ALL the login startup apps from the user account.

Now I've got to rebuild all those startup items - grrrrr.  
(Version 1.2)

ROBOTANK  I’ve been quite impressed with this app. It’s still very young, but the developers have made significant improvements with each update. In my experience, they are also responsive to customer concerns via email and MacUpdate postings.

In regards to a post below, comparing Fantasktik to DragThing isn’t reasonable. More important than DragThing’s age advantage is the simple fact that the two apps are intended to do completely different things. DragThing makes docks, and its process dock is not equivalent to Fantasktik’s all-windows + previews display. Both apps are excellent and, in my opinion, don’t really compete with each other.  
(Version 1.2)

GORDON142  Cool idea, nice implementation. Really needs to be resizeable. Trying to click on the strip on a high-resolution display takes quite a bit of dexterity.  
(Version 1.2)

NESSUNO  • Photoshop images are always cut off where Fantasktik lies;

• several windows do not appear in the F. preview (i.e. its preview is empty).

And shortcuts would be great to manoeuvre thru the windows without having to leave the keyboard. Ah yes, and ctrl-click contextual menus would be great. An idea for Xmas...? :-)  
(Version 1.1.1)

EASER  What I really want to know is why - after I've removed the preferace pane - do I continue to have a recurring file called "FantasktiksSidekick.bundle" in my Input Managers folder? I mean, literally, every time I remove it and trash it, it magically reappears in that folder. How can this be, and why should this be?   
(Version 1.1)

EASER  I don't know what " prevent well-behaved Cocoa apps'windows from showing under the bar" means, but it does not serve as an "exclude" feature. I do not need to see the link to "MenuCalendarClcok iCal" (etc.) in this. I use the Dock and Command-tab if I need to select those. I want to see only what I want to see in this application. I'm just as well off forking out a few extra dollars for DragThing, which does give me the "exclude" feature (and a whole lot more).   
(Version 1.1)

JEDIAH  Nice app but it needs some tweeks here and there.

1. It doesn't show any preview of the Microsoft Entourage window.

2. It would be nice if I could set it to run down vertically instead of horizontally on my display.

3. It doesn't support 2 displays when hiding. Instead of hiding it floats on to the second display.

4. Transparency settings would be nice.

Otherwise it's an app with great potentials and I bought just it to encouraged the developer to move up to the next level. 10 dollares isn't that much anyway!  
(Version 1.0)

LEMERLOT  Could be a nice and helpful app but:

1. doesn't work for me with spaces (only shows in one space)

2. I can't choose apps NOT to be shown in Fantasktik e.g. LaunchBar and QuickKeys which I don't want to see there

3. Hides the top part of my windows an so the close box of the respective window etc.

If this is fixed then it's worth to buy it.

LM  
(Version 1.0)

JOELLEVIN  Very cool app, nicely done. Might end up buying this one.  
(Version 1.0)