How To Access The Old Windows XP App Switcher In Windows 10
Windows 7 was a very popular version of Windows and people were very reluctant to upgrade to Windows 8 after it. Windows 10 rectified many of the shortcoming in Windows 8 and since its release many people have upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. When you look at it today, people compare the adoption rate of Windows 10 from Windows 7 to see how popular the new Windows version is. That said, Windows XP was a version of Windows that was equally if not more popular than Windows 7. To this day many people still use it and it’s extinction is likely going to be credited to apps no longer supporting it rather than people willing to give it up. Chrome has already dropped support for the ancient OS. Windows XP was popular not just because it was exceptionally stable, well built and sturdy, but also because the UI was nice. If you’re nostalgic for Windows XP you might be pleased to know that you can access the old app switcher interface in Windows 10. Here’s how.
Hold down the left Alt key and press and release/tap the right Alt key once. Without releasing the left Alt key, press the Tab key and the old app switcher will pop up. Use the tab key, press and release, to cycle through the open apps.
This little trick works on Windows 7 as well as on Windows 10 so we’re willing to bet it will work on Windows 8 as well. Using this method for switching apps is likely going to come down to your preference for a certain look. The default Alt+Tab works just fine and provides a thumbnail preview of the app you’re switching to but it can admittedly get a little crowded if you have one too many apps open. You might perhaps prefer this no nonsense app switcher simply because it’s faster. We did notice that it fails to generate an app icon for Modern UI apps which might mean the old app switcher is still in Windows 10 by accident rather than purpose.
