Bumptop has been around as a video concept for a few years. Now this amazing desktop organizer with a physics engine underpinning the UI is available for download (PC only). The software allows you to bump and toss weighted objects across the desktop and organize them into folders or piles the way you would on your real-world desk. It also includes the ability to pan and zoom on images with all the gesture support you'd expect. While a touchscreen (multi-touch supported when Windows 7 ships) display provides a more natural interface, Bumptop also works with a mouse. Check the video after the break -- then hit up the download link below which we suspect you'll be frantically searching for after the video ends. Granted, we don't want to spend our days with arms outstretched at "work" in front of a
touchsceen PC anymore than you, but software like this could be useful on our lesser used, kitchen PCs.
Update: Katherine Boehret and Walt Mossberg have
posted their review after playing with the wares for a few days. It's definitely "worth a try" but requires a shift from an application- to a desktop-driven approach to daily computing. Something they don't sound eager to do regardless of how "fun" Bumptop is.
Download
posted Apr 8th 2009 at 2:07AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
aj121489 @ Apr 8th 2009 2:16AM
Looks pretty sweet to me
stephen @ Apr 8th 2009 2:54AM
I really don't want my icon to the direct link to pornhub disguised as a boring word document to be the most massive icon on my desktop.
John @ Apr 8th 2009 3:18AM
*Sigh* Leave it to Microsoft to over-complicate simple tasks.
John @ Apr 8th 2009 3:26AM
Oh, LOL, it's not a Microsoft product. It's still lame, though. In a post-Quicksilver world, the desktop paradigm is quickly becoming outdated. Like I said in my other post, it's over-complicated, and furthermore, quite useless.
aj121489 @ Apr 8th 2009 3:32AM
Yea I was gonna say this isn't Microsoft. I agree it's pretty useless, I'd play with it for a little while and then not use it, but it's still pretty cool.
Mark Anderson @ Apr 8th 2009 4:43AM
Leave it to John to make a stupid comment and then desperately try to backpedal more like.
Freakin Ijit @ Apr 8th 2009 7:58AM
Do I really want my desktop to look like my cubicle (complete with walls)?
I don't even want my cube to look like my cube.
Shinigami @ Apr 8th 2009 9:22AM
Sweet? I wouldn't want my virtual sticky note to fall off from my virtual wall...
Really fun to try.
Seanross @ Apr 8th 2009 11:42AM
Looks interesting, ill give it a try
Decoy @ Apr 8th 2009 3:58PM
If the bumptop was my cube, there would be a desk in it with a computer. There would be a little avatar of me sitting at the desk using the computer having an infinute recursion headache.
Josh @ Apr 8th 2009 6:08PM
This is like Microsoft Bob 2.0
TruthBringer @ Apr 9th 2009 9:31PM
I think John meant that Microsoft makes the simple things hard. And this programs makes them simple again. I even got that the first time. He didn't mean that this program complicates things, it makes things easier.
aj121489 @ Apr 9th 2009 9:35PM
@truthbringer obviously you didn't read his next comment, right below his first one where he says "Oh, LOL, it's not a Microsoft product."
b @ Apr 8th 2009 2:21AM
woo! more clutter!
now i can have a messy desk AND a messy screen!
just wish my physical desk had google desktop indexing, so i can find the stuff i'm looking for.
haX0r @ Apr 8th 2009 2:20AM
Now that is pretty clever. That can have many uses with other programs. Interesting to see how it plays out. I am going to DL and install on Win7 beta and try it out.
you @ Apr 8th 2009 2:59AM
let us know how it works. especially if your have a tablet with multitouch.
BB @ Apr 8th 2009 2:23AM
I am claustrophobia, I hate it
Ellianth @ Apr 8th 2009 2:49AM
ROTFLMAO, I've never laughed so hard at a misused word.
What were your parents thinking when they gave you that name?
Mark @ Apr 8th 2009 11:12AM
Dear God! This guys IS claustrophobia! I never imagined psychological disorders would become personified, AHHHH!!!!
Chavez @ Apr 8th 2009 11:42AM
Our God, Claustrophobia, is not pleased! Quick, we must sacrifice Engadget commenters until he is appeased!
I say we offer up Chapell first.
Dez @ Apr 8th 2009 1:52PM
+1 for this comment. Loving it.
stephen @ Apr 8th 2009 2:34AM
this is my idea for autocad, any one know what I'm talking about, manual drafting brought to the computer the proper way
melloncollie @ Apr 8th 2009 2:58AM
Oh god no.
I can't imagine having to take a ruler and a t-square to my screen and having to literally draw a digital line.
It sounds counter-intuitive. The only thing gained from doing this as opposed to manual drawing is the ability undo and make the drawing prettier. Otherwise, you'd miss the precision of keyboard and mouse data entry**
** The current system still has it's flaws though.
aj121489 @ Apr 8th 2009 2:59AM
I know AutoCAD but I'm not sure how it relates...then again it is 3 in the morning and I'm very tired lol
aj121489 @ Apr 8th 2009 3:01AM
Oh well thanks to melloncollie I get what you're sayin now lol. Nah, I have to agree I like the keyboard and number pad for the precise inputs
Kwikit @ Apr 8th 2009 7:36AM
On the one hand, I was thankful to finally sit down away from my 36 x 60 desk that was often a pain in the ass to draw on. On the other hand, I know many people that believe that the art of manually drawing something results in a somehow more powerful connection to the design. I disagree but that doesn't mean I'm right or that they're wrong. What I think would be kind of neat is if a full pn digital drafting surface was developed that was touch, allowed you to draw, interact with items on screen, allowed you to work in pixel or vector mode, etc. Think of something like a huge 30 x 60 Wacom tablet but it was also the screen and not just a drawing surface. It would pick up smudges too, to make the old school boys happy. That would get me off my ass and make me possibly more flexible / limber again. I think the product I'm describing has a place in this world... will anyone make it? Who the hell knows.
JS @ Apr 8th 2009 2:34AM
It looks like a very easy way to get totally disorganized. Also browsing through a photo pile is good once, after that it's annoying having to straighten and arrange crap. The "bumptop" looks like a mess. I don't see how it's any better than what Mac OS or Vista already lets you do.
I also got a claustrophobic feeling during some parts of the video.
a ham sandwich @ Apr 8th 2009 2:34AM
ive always thought bumptop was pretty cool. only time will tell if it or something like it gains popularity. to me, it seems more of a novelty than anything (right now, at least).
_||_ @ Apr 8th 2009 2:35AM
I thought BumpTop had been available for a while now? Or was that just the beta I was using?
Kyle @ Apr 8th 2009 2:36AM
i love how Steve jobs is in the top left hand corner....
how Microsoft-y...
hallowhero @ Apr 8th 2009 8:00AM
Yeah I know. I noticed that too. lol i was like wait....what? o.0
Phil @ Apr 8th 2009 2:47AM
the video ends kinda abruptly (1:11), or is that just me?
like all those "revolutionary new ways to organize your desktop" we've come to see over the years, i think this is nothing more than a toy. might be fun to use for a while, but i can't see myself actually working with this day in, day out.
Plothole @ Apr 8th 2009 4:26AM
It's you. Or rather one of those glitches we all get from time to time. Refreshing the page should fix it.
konshuss @ Apr 8th 2009 2:48AM
Looks like the desktop... *puts shades on* is really the floor *YYEEAAHHHHHHHHH!!*
DWells55 @ Apr 8th 2009 8:10AM
Not bad.
Frostblade10 @ Apr 8th 2009 2:48AM
I beta tested this. I guess it was only a select few who were selected?
I never tried the multi-touch functionality but I wrote a few bugs for the program.
Personally, I prefer mouse and keyboard... That is, as long as my monitor is faced towards me a 1 1/2 feet from my face and at a 90 degree angle.
If I had an HP Tx2, I would totally try it out.
Steve Childs @ Apr 8th 2009 8:12AM
Does it support multi monitor setups though? I've got 3 screens!
Darwin @ Apr 8th 2009 2:50AM
"is that..."
is that what?
Excuse me while I go create "a piles."
Il_Baffo @ Apr 8th 2009 2:50AM
1- screen is laggy
2- my desk is messy, i don't want to have a messy screen too
konshuss @ Apr 8th 2009 3:25AM
1 - my computer runs it beautifully, and with flickr feeds to keep the frames updating = awesome
2 - you can quickly sort files into piles by type, spread them out, throw them around... this makes my desktop MUCH more organized.
only thing i want now is the ability to change the floor and wall textures.. maybe that's in Pro?
konshuss @ Apr 8th 2009 3:30AM
Spoke too soon - it's got that, too.
ahbi @ Apr 8th 2009 2:58AM
This needs to be combined with OneNote
A.C.E.R. @ Apr 8th 2009 3:12AM
Does it have undo for when I screw up the way my stuff is organized?
Agent .25i @ Apr 8th 2009 4:15AM
go to bumptop settings, then click - reset bumptop layout. Will return your icon placements to what they are with bumptop off.
Jeremy B @ Apr 8th 2009 3:35AM
this is amazing jsut installed and bout to buy pro. works great with the tx2z and it looks AWESOME! re size things, move em around. i have a 2.1 GHz dual core laptop and its pretty low cpu useage, and xustomize the background images
Toby Shorin @ Apr 8th 2009 3:23AM
It may not be the most efficient thing ever, but it's the coolest thing I've seen to happen to the desktop in years.
Cunthor @ Apr 8th 2009 3:23AM
Loved the bit when he couldn't minimize his browser. A+++ would watch again.
Jay Park @ Apr 8th 2009 3:24AM
they need to make the flicking between photos inverse. So to look to the picture on the right you flick to the left, and vice versa, like pic lens... It makes it more realistic in terms of physical interaction I think...
matt @ Apr 8th 2009 3:27AM
Project looking glass anyone?
Fred @ Apr 8th 2009 3:39AM
I love how people still think touch screens mean that you have to work with your arms outstretched all day. Because obviously it's impossible to position your monitors in any other way than straight up like they are now.