Video: BumpTop 1.2 with multitouch support available now
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 1st 2009 2:44PM
posted Oct 1st 2009 2:44PM
BumpTop 1.2 is now available, adding multitouch support to the already impressive list of features available for the 3D desktop. Check out the free download and you'll soon be introduced to a host of new gestures, including the scrunch (where you can grab a handful of items and pull 'em into a pile), wall focus and rotate, and some quick and easy photo editing. As always, you can download the free version to get started, but if you want to take advantage of stuff like un-watermarked image previews and unlimited sticky notes, you'll have to shell out $29 for the pro version. Sorry, Mac and Linux users -- this is still a Windows-only affair. But we do have a video for you! You know where to find it -- after the break, of course.
See more video at our hub!
Psh who needs the Surface anyways?
Did anyone actually find this thing useful during the first go-around? It's cute and all, but as far as an "enhanced" user experience goes... meh.
Looks like a hot mess to me.. If something doesn't offer more speed and precision than my 2 button mouse in a desktop type environment and also looks like that? no way.
I tried it. Was pretty big on the cool factor. Pretty low on the practical factor.
remember 3-d unix (the OS they featured in Jurrasic park...yes that was a REAL version of unix)...useless crap.
there is nothing 3d about files....they are a name and location...2 dimensions.
Personally I still think having well named files and calling them up via a predictive command line is fastest.
Well some of us don't enjoy practical things. It could be snappier but i like the look of it.
You're wrong, Grammar. Files should actually be "3D" in a way that you have their position, name AND version. ;)
But I know what you meant, I'm just tossing around an idea for a cool versioning system that should be a part of any OS.
Regarding BumpTop, it's cool and all, but useless for any kind of "real" work.
It's a funky technology demonstration but, frankly, it just seems to make things more complicated than simple. It's interesting in that they are trying to make computers more accessible by having users perform actions that they'd do on a physical desk, so I can perhaps see this as being useful to new users, but if you are already comfortable with modern computing paradigms then there is little to be gained.
While I don't want to sound partisan, perhaps the reason why there is no Mac version is that some of this stuff is already built-in. I couldn't help watching the demonstration of emailing a picture by dragging the file to application to generate a new email with the file attached without thinking that this was normal. I was rather surprised to find that this doesn't work on Windows XP, although I haven't had the chance to try it yet with Windows 7.
i think this is prety much worthless on small monitors. This is however ideal for 50 inch ala Minority Report to view read documents on the go. It's not something you would use whilst sitting down.
why where there be mac support when its touchscreen. there are no touchscreen macs? maybe im missing something
A touch screen isn't required for this, but it's still supported nonetheless.
ohh ok. what is he using? a surface?
I think he's using a tablet computer.
it's not a touch screen but rather a tablet interface.
and it's really not that big and fresh an idea. there are articles from almost a year ago about Apple patenting a 3d interface and cultofmac had an article like 3 years ago about a tablet with this gestures.
http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/12/11/multi.dimensional.mac.os/
http://www.cultofmac.com/title_23/176
Yeah but those are rumors, much less from an pro-Apple site. Now they're being told the Apple Tablet will run iPhone OS.
The BumpTop video was done on an HP TX2 tablet PC
I suppose nobody had ever thought about connecting a touch-screen monitor or adapter to a mac before, especially not designers.
the ex-girlfriend bit was hilarious :-)
Reminds me of an Apple dev app that surfaced back in the 1990's called hotsauce!
Why did it take 20 years for it to be "hot"
Easy - Capacitive Touch Screens.
Apple never worked that into fruition. The farthest they got with that prototype is the dock, and CoverFlow.
I don't think this will help me organize my pornography in a easier way.
well, there's a chance
it will make your most viewed larger then the least view if it helps. of course it won't help if your parents want to use your comp and the most viewed items are large, centered and in your face.
Yeah I don't really see how this could improve two girls one cup.
Sort by/Most Touched
that's pretty sexy.
I wasn't horribly impressed with it when it was mouse only, but the multi-touch gestures seem to add a lot. With multi-touch laptop monitors looking like a trends post-7 launch it might be worth another shot if I update to one of them.
And when using 11 fingers you can...nevermind.
Does anyone else think that a touchscreen might seem kind of screwy when you're emulating a 3D environment on a 2D screen?
no.
This is the biggest downgrade of an upgrade I have ever seen.
The biggest downgrade to an upgrade that I can think of is Windows ME.
Or, upgrading a certain phone's OS & not be able to get your Exchange email.
this would be incredible with some head tracking.
Oh yes please, please make Windows more resource-intensive for even the most simple tasks. Thank you so much.
AND as a bonus, make it harder to do almost anything!
Meh. The interface is interesting -- but it's not much more than a novelty. I tried it for a while on my WinXX machines. Fences from Stardock is a MUCH better way to organize a Win desktop. It would be cool to double-tap the screen to have the "fences" pop up -- tap and drag -- and double-tap to have them disappear again.
Agreed, a nice concept but completely impractical.
Stardock though?
Bloatware, every program.
Hey, if the replies throughout this topic are really coming from the BumpTop developers ... then kudos to you folk for searching out your product and listening to potential customers.
It discriminates against those of us who lack all the necesary digits(fingers) to complete said tasks. Down with Bump TOP. its discriniatory
Dear Customer,
We are against all forms of discrimination. If you have two fingers you would be able to use Bumptop. If don't have even two fingers we recommend our upcoming version Bumptop Voice(TM).
We are looking forward to serving up.
BumpTop PR Team.
Perhaps you are discriminating against those of us with 10 fingers by trying to kill our software?
Like some many other 3d UI's this seem more labor intensive then what we already have... And visual wow factor will wear off quickly
Sorry, Mac and Linux users -- this is still a Windows-only affair < thats funny considering all their advertisements list "Life without Walls"
WTF is BUMP TOP. its 4 Walls and a Floor. LOL
I don't see myself using this because it is for people that are unorganized with their digital media. It is perfect for ppl who just throw stuff on their normal desk and have an "organized clutter".
Not very interested with the use of this OS.
There is Mac support.
Meh I'm not huge on GUI...Gnome ftw.. and for linux theres always compiz =)
alteast with compiz they are thinking "outside" the box instead of in it...engadget needs edit button srsly
So ... my desktop will now be as messy as my desk.
That's great.
We're working on different ways that BumpTop can help organize your desk. Hopefully in a future release! =)
Yah, I was just going for comedy. I should've added a ;)
It seems like a smooth program.
Pretty impressive.
My desktop now has just the Recycle Bin on it, so I'm sure I could make things nice and neat.
Perhaps you can add furniture, rugs and lighting, so that it seems like a room instead of a box.
A TV can be zoomed in to play videos/games, a stereo can be zoomed in to play mp3s/internet radio.
A bookshelf can be zoomed in to read e-books. A painting/photo on the wall for jpgs/tiffs could have frames.
File cabinet could be shown for storing important docs.
Oh, and sometimes, I rotate my screen 180 degrees, so make sure the room adjusts as well.
Many of the people in the comments say they don't have much on their desktops (myself included), but we're on a gadget site ... so we're just one demographic. We know how to find things with a few clicks. There are many other people that might use this who aren't as tech/gadget savvy who need more visuals. My mom is one of them.
We're always looking for ways to improve BumpTop and make it easier to use. Your feedback is appreciated!
I don't keep any icons on my desktop... how does this help me in any way? :p
Also, the big red "X" to me is delete. I keep thinking you are deleting the group of icons it's associated with.
Sorry but i tried it a couple of years ago, then i uninstalled in less than 3 minutes.
Its looks fine but it is unusuable, is impractical and eat so much resources.
May be it can rules if you can add some extra value, may be to convert it in a game or other thing.
@ Andir3.0,
It's not a red X, it's a white X with a red circle.
It's similar to when you close Firefox or Explorer or Word or Photoshop or any other program in Windows.
It probably could be smaller, on the traditional top/right side and perhaps a different symbol to signify a minimize, but it doesn't mean Delete to me.
This is PAINFULLY dumb and useless
OH GOD FORBID 10 CLICKS TO EMAIL A PIC
The first thing I do after installing Windows is disable icons on the desktop, which then basically serves a singular purpose of having a nice-looking wallpaper. The entire metaphor of a "desktop" cultivates disorganization. So a tool that improves the "desktop" experience for me isn't worth a whole lot.
This reminds me of decorating in Oblivion.
I don't need a mess on my computer's desktop too, thanks.
Dang! Congrats to the Dev. Team. I wouldn't say 30 years of desktop changes as the advertisement, but more like 13 years (Windows '95); or Windows 3/4. I bought a mac and was shipped but BumpTop is a good program. I don't know about this mac purchase I made....zzz.
great now we'll get the bluescreen in 3d ...
Well, if you had this available on the Mac, then it would bring the total number of useful apps up to 1.
windowsftw: yeah man you're so smart..i guess it's still not so usefull like your solitaire and pinball game on your windows which you'll be able to play in 3d soon (great for you!!)
Actually I prefer using my ordinary computer desktop to organize my files. Why would I want to go back to the mess on my desk?
Nice idea, maybe is great on a multi-touch table device (like the Surface) but I don't see it as practical for an ordinary computer user.
Wow, that looks really stupid.
Does anyone know if this works well on Vista?
BumpTop runs on XP, Vista and 7 (RTM) in 32-bit and 64-bit. =)
i realized i don't even use the programs menu in windows 7 anymore. nor the control panel
just the superbar and search
In future versions of this, added to the virtual desktop, I would like to have a virtual computer on the desktop. So I can organize all of my photos on my desktop, then do some other tasks on my computer with a 2-d OS or also a virtual desktop environment. It'd also be cool if I could control a 3-d model of myself using a touchscreen, to use the virtual computer that is on the virtual desktop. I would like to be able to control 3-d models of myself controlling computers on 3-d virtual desktops, at least 10 times over.
Here, I just did this for this:
http://nothinggg.com/misc/virtual_desktop.gif
BumpTop. As much a useless piece of crap as this comment.
But really. Useless (if pretty) piece of crap.
I think this application would be awesome if you had, say, a small mini atx style computer connected to a small touch screen monitor hung up in your living room that could control your media played through the dvd player, movies played through television, or possibly even use it to control your thermostat, lights, ceiling fan. All that junk. It could be pretty awesome to come home at night, open your door, go straight to a small monitor on your wall and press a button to turn on all your lights and AC. Plus, it would look really impressive to company to navigate all your music by touch screen. Very minority report-ish.
I know they have remotes and junk that already do that via touch screen. But, this would look a lot cooler and be more customizable and future proof than a remote or interface with proprietary software could ever be.