Wade

A card-row window switcher that replaces Alt+Tab on Windows.

Website: https://wade.erfjab.com/

• Shows your windows as live cards in one horizontal row, like recent apps on a phone.
• Uses the system's own desktop background, slightly dimmed.
• Runs in the background and starts with Windows.
• Uses no CPU while idle.

Install

In PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erfjab/wade/master/install.ps1 | iex

The same command installs Wade the first time and updates it later. It only replaces the program; settings are kept. On the first start Wade asks once for administrator rights (see Settings). If the download fails, the installed version is left as it was.

Build from source

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11
• Rust with the MSVC toolchain
• Windows 10/11 SDK (install it with the Visual Studio Build Tools)

Build and install

Open PowerShell in the project folder and run:

cargo build --release
taskkill /im wade.exe /f 2>$null
mkdir "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Wade" -Force
copy target\release\wade.exe "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Wade\"
& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Wade\wade.exe"

Always start Wade from the install folder, not from target. On launch it adds itself to Windows startup using its own path.

Update

Pull or edit the code, then run the same commands as in Install.

Uninstall

1. Right-click the Wade tray icon and turn off Run as administrator (if on), then Start with Windows.
2. Right-click it again and choose Exit.
3. Delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Wade.
4. To also remove the settings, delete the registry key HKCU\Software\Wade. If the administrator task is still there, run schtasks /Delete /TN Wade /F as administrator.

Use

Hold Alt and press Tab. Wade opens on the current window; each Tab moves one card.

Key	Action
Alt+Tab	open, then next card
Tab / Shift+Tab, Right / Left, mouse wheel	next / previous card
release Alt, Enter, click the middle card	switch
Up, Delete, drag the middle card up	close that window
Esc	cancel

• The row loops: from the last card to the first and back.
• On open, the current window shrinks from where it is into the row; on switch, the chosen card grows into the real window.
• A quick Alt+Tab (press and release) goes straight to the previous window without showing anything.
• If Windows "Animation effects" is off, Wade opens and closes without animation.

Settings

Right-click the Wade tray icon.

Setting	Options
Animation speed	Fast, Normal, Slow, Off
Card size	Large, Medium, Small, Icons only (app icons and titles, no live previews)
Background	Black, 75% darker, 50% darker, 25% darker (the desktop behind the cards)
Corners	Sharp, Slightly round, Round, Rounder, Very round (the cards' corners)
Start with Windows	on, off
Run as administrator	on, off

Defaults are in bold.

If Windows "Animation effects" is off, Wade has no animation whatever the speed.

Run as administrator lets Wade switch away from games and apps that run as administrator. The first start asks for administrator rights once (UAC); Wade then starts from a Task Scheduler task (named Wade) at sign-in, with no prompt. If you decline, Wade runs normally and does not ask again; you can turn it on later from the menu. Settings are stored in HKCU\Software\Wade.

Why it is light

• Windows itself (DWM thumbnails) draws the live previews; Wade copies no images.
• When the switcher is closed, no timer or loop runs.
• The keyboard hook runs on its own thread and only posts messages, so typing never waits on drawing.
• The drawing buffer exists only while the switcher is open.
• No network, no files written, no code injected into other apps. Admin rights only if you turn them on.

Limits

• While a window started with "Run as administrator" has focus, Windows does not pass the keys to Wade, and the Windows Alt+Tab opens instead. Turn on Run as administrator to fix this.
• Minimized windows have no live preview; they show the app's large icon.
• Only windows on the current virtual desktop are shown.

Develop

cargo run          # debug build
.\run.bat          # stop the running copy, build, and start the new one

Only one Wade runs at a time. A second copy exits right away.

File	Purpose
src/main.rs	startup, single instance
src/hook.rs	catches Alt+Tab and the switcher keys
src/winlist.rs	finds windows and brings the chosen one to the front
src/switcher.rs	card row, animation, drawing and mouse
src/tray.rs	tray icon, start with Windows, exit
site/	website, published to GitHub Pages
assets/	logo (logo.svg) and the app icon embedded in wade.exe