Montage - Introduction

Montage Windows productivity software

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Introduction

Introduction - What is Montage?

Montage is a general-purpose utility program that runs on any PC with Windows 95 or a later version of Windows. More than just a quick application launcher, it's a convenient way of organizing information and overcoming Windows limitations, so you can work more productively.

First of all, Montage is a time-saver that, with a single click, recreates your preferred way of working with a group of programs, folders, and documents, whether it's a regular daily activity or one of many projects you work on only occasionally. Montage saves you the time of finding and launching each program or document, rearranging windows, and performing other steps to get back to where you last left off. Conversely, it lets you to stop working on a project with one click, automatically closing an entire group of applications, while retaining the necessary information to return to that activity at some later time.

Montage is also a visual organizer, keeping track of all kinds of information in files called "montages". Each montage contains a customized arrangement of icons representing a special kind of "Shortcut", similar to a Windows shortcut, but with a number of enhancements. For example, a Montage Shortcut can not only launch an application, but also it monitors and controls the application, adding a number of unique capabilities.

You can store many montages throughout the filing system, and any number of these can be open at the same time. Each open montage has its own main window (aka a Montage Desktop window), similar to the Windows desktop, but contained within a separate top-level window.

Montages can be interconnected to form a large, yet manageable network of ideas, where you can swiftly navigate from one topic to any related topic, regardless of screen space limitations.

Montage helps you work faster Launch and arrange multiple application windows in one step, or close a group of programs with a single click, automatically saving and restoring window layouts. The sample screen on the right shows the result of opening a simple montage, such as one might use on a daily basis, which launches an Explorer window, Outlook Express (for email), a to-do list in Notepad, and the Windows Calculator.
Montage gives you elbow room Reduce screen clutter and make it easier to work with multiple windows, even when display space is severely limited. Montage provides the kind of screen organizing capabilities you need to enjoy the benefits of a "paperless office". The screen shot shows a dozen neatly arranged windows, all opened as a result of opening a single main montage. In this case, one of the applications launched by the main montage was another instance of Montage, which in turn opened yet another montage.
Montage manages activities, not just static information Organize and integrate not just information, but how you use it, so you can switch instantly from one activity to another, regardless of how many projects or how recently you've worked on them. This screen is one of a series that start from a typical main montage, then opening a montage on the general subject of astronomy (the screen shown at right), and from there going to a montage of Hubble deep space graphics, finally ending with a graphic design montage, used to work on an idea for creating a logo design.
Montage makes your information and workplace portable Take your office with you, whether you're giving presentations on the road, shuttling between home and office, or moving to a new machine. Montage's portability features help you manage storage and backups, and deliver your knowledge to others in a more flexible way, conveying more information than any static document. This screen illustrates how a PowerPoint presentation might be enhanced by packaging it along with related documents and references into a portable montage.
Montage creates a visual organization for all of your information resources Search tools are great, but how do you assimilate the results and put them into the most convenient possible organization for future reference? Montage gives you a better way to keep track of everything you've got, plus all you've learned about where to find more on the web. Create a boundless space of ideas that you can expand, refine, and navigate without overloading your brain. This series of graphical montages illustrates the use of images as a natural, logical way of organizing astronomical information, regardless of where the data physically reside. Starting from a wide field view of the sky, we drill down through transparent Shortcuts leading to progressively narrower, more magnified telescopic views, culminating in an image of a single, distant galaxy, along with a collection of related web references.

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Montage helps you work faster

Montage gives you elbow room

Montage manages activities, not just static information

Montage makes your information and workplace portable

Montage creates a visual organization for all of your information resources