Bumptop Launches: Make Your Physical Desktop Virtual (200 Free Pro Accounts)
In 2006, this this video about BumpTop became a hit on YouTube. The video showed a physics driven 3D desktop environment with an innovative menu system. Today, a bit more than two and a half years later, after numerous closed alpha and beta versions, and after adding a number of cool features, BumpTop's developer Anand Agarawala and his team are finally ready to open up BumpTop to everybody (Windows only for now). BumpTop will come in two versions: a free, somewhat restricted version, and a fully-featured 'pro' version.
BumpTop has given us 200 free pro versions to give away to our readers. You can find details about how to claim yours at the end of this post.
Features
We could describe BumpTop in every singly detail, but the best way to experience it is really to see it in action:
Among some of BumpTop's most interesting features are its innovative, free-form method of selecting items on the desktop, the ability to flip through piles of files (with your mouse-wheel, or through an actual flipping motion if you have a touch-screen), and its highly intuitive pie menu system, which you invoke to sort files on the desktop or to create new piles, for example. To search for a file on the desktop, by the way, you just have to start typing.
Twitter and Facebook on Your Desktop
Since its last couple of releases, BumpTop has added a number of new features, including drag and drop support for Twitter and Facebook. Now, you only need to drop a picture onto the big Twitter or Facebook icons on your desktop, and they will be uploaded to Twitpic and/or your Facebook photo account. You can also now subscribe to any Media RSS feed (from Flickr, for example), and the photos on your background will regularly update with new pictures from this feed. After you zoom in to a picture, you can use a simple swiping motion with your mouse or finger to move to the next picture.
Reinventing the Desktop
BumpTop, at its core, is trying to reinvent the desktop as we know it. While we have our choice of desktop environments today (Windows, OSX, KDE, GNOME, etc.), the core experience between them doesn't really vary too much. The basic principles, like organizing files in folders, for example, might look different, but the basic functionality is always the same.
With BumpTop, however, users can recreate their own physical desktops, which aren't usually organized in neat folders. Indeed, most computer desktops, are also cluttered with random files that were just saved on the desktop without any regard for organization.
That's where the power of BumpTop comes in. While organizing files in folders might sounds good, http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=288392.288596">studies from Microsoft going back as far as 1998 has shown that we are usually far better at recalling information from our spatial memory than at recalling information from texts.
Agarawala acknowledged that BumpTop might not be for everyone. He did, however, also stress that BumpTop does not use any gratuitous 3D effects for the sake of it. And indeed, the 3D part of BumpTop is relatively subdued and only really comes into play when you zoom in to the pictures on the wall or when you create (and destroy) piles of files on your desktop.
Coming Soon: APIs, Connected Desktops, and, at some point, a Mac Version
Agarawala and his team also have big plans for BumpTop's future. Not only are they planning to open up an API which will allow developers to create widgets on top of BumpTop, but BumpTop also plans to connect multiple desktops with each other over the Internet in the future, which would allow coworkers to easily move documents from one desktop to another.
The BumpTop team also plans to release a Mac version in the future, but given the size of the team, the company is currently focusing on the Windows platform first.
Verdict
There can also be no doubt that there is some novelty factor to the application, though unlike many other similar projects, BumpTop doesn't feel gimmicky and actually provides a number of very useful features. It is easy to get sidetracked by the cool visuals, but underneath all of this, BumpTop actually provides some very compelling functionality.
In our interview last week, Agarawala freely acknowledged that BumpTop might not work for everyone. While it is easy to suspend your disbelief as you are working in the BumpTop environment, any application that you start outside of the app will quickly bring you back to reality (though the BumpTop team does have some ideas for how to solve this problem as well). If you are interested in trying out a new desktop, however, then BumpTop is definitely worth a try.
Get Your Free Pro Version
BumpTop comes in two versions: a free version, which only includes support for two post It notes, and which doesn't feature pile flipping, multi-touch support, and another cool feature that automatically makes frequently used files. BumpTop Pro version, which will sell for $29, includes all of these features, as well as the ability to 'toss' files to USB keys and CDs.
If you are one of the first 200 readers to follow this link and leave your email address, BumpTop will send you a license key for the Pro version.
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Thanks, bumpTop sent e-mail with Pro version.
I have read your article, I think very popular with
Let's try it out.
Nice. Unfortunately, I downloaded the Pro with the key, but it does not work on VMWare Fusion on a MacBook (requires "latest version of graphics card drivers", even though I just installed the just out 2.0.3 version of Fusion). Any idea?
got to check this out
license key, pls.. thanks!
you can use a simple swiping motion with your mouse or finger to move to the next picture.
I am glad to talk with you and you give me great help! Thanks for that,I am wonderring if I can contact you via email when I meet problems?
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Wow, been following these guys, but didn't see this yet. Thanks for pointer!
Posted by: Samuel Driessen
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April 8, 2009 4:38 AM
Looks cool, waiting for my Pro version key.
I tried using Bumptop several times over the past year, including fairly recently. It has never worked as it was supposed to. Nice concept though - I really was rooting for it and wished I could have used it.
Looks awesome can't wait to use the pro version . where's my key??
AwesomeTop! I saw there demo at TED.
Gotta try it out... and my Pro key please:)
You would think they would come up with something for compiz fusion before they did anything for MS Windows.
Dont worry we'll have our own version soon....:)
Great Idea though
One missing part in the review: how much resources it will consume from my PC: CPU and RAM? I guess allot maybe u’ll need at least 2 GB or RAM.
I need an invite but the invites are out :(
i have looked it for long
I tried it and it really doesn't help organize anything. If you like eye candy that is all that it is really good for. It has some decent concepts that are worth checking out. Maybe when touch screens are more relevant it will play a role.. For now it is just a novel idea, your current desktop works just fine.
Looks really kool. Can I get a Pro key please :)
Just heard about Bumptop on the Kenradio World Tech Roundup and it sounds like a cool product..
can i have one?
Can you please remove your link to the 200 pro keys cause its be out of keys for awhile now. Or at least update your article to say that all keys have been given out.
Hopefully I can get one :)
yay!
please send me one!
mail dot ty dot at @ gee mail dot com!
i will love u guys forever!
Wow What wonderful stuf!!!
Hopefully I can get one of the free pro accounts
Absolutely loving the product would love to give pro a try with its added features.
Well the posting form didn't auto reveal my email so basketball_17326@hotmail.com incase its needed for the pro key.
Good
thank you
I like how well this works with my tablet pc
Looks cool
Will give it a try...
I'd like to try.
Pl send me the key
a must get for me...
Man i've been using this since the beta 14 and i love this...Please give me a key so i'll keep using this wonderful program. I LOVE THIS!!!
very nice stuff. can i have a try of the pro version?
This stuff is awesome, I want to try this.
Looks really interesting, would like to try it and review it.
3D?cool!
tanx see you later
I like how well this works with my tablet pc
man this looks great...
i would love to give it a try!
can i please get the pro key?? xD
Thank you very muCh
Like bumptop very much.
can i get pro key?? Thank you very much
Gotta try it out... and my Pro key please
I like how well this works with my tablet pc
very nice stuff. can i have a try of the pro version?
a must get for me...
Can you please remove your link to the 200 pro keys cause its be out of keys for awhile now. Or at least update your article to say that all keys have been given out.
link to the 200 pro keys cause its be out of keys for awhile now. Or at least update your article to say that all keys have been given out.
ı love you netlog ~ ;R
Thank you for your tips i upgrade my program to pro thankx again.
Like bumptop very much.
can i get pro key?? Thank you very much mCx Admin
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