Switching between windows with Alt+Tab is effective when the number of open windows is low, but its linear access quickly becomes very uncomfortable. Windows has never offered an alternative to this. In fact, it's not even possible to replace the keyboard shortcut, even though some people would love a physically closer combination. FastWindowSwitcher presents itself as a substitute for Alt+Tab by assigning a key to each window. Once you activate its layer, you press the key in question and the window will come to the foreground.
Windows' Fixed Design Choices
Windows comes with small design decisions that have been with us for years and that have never been possible to modify. For example, the user cannot mirror the taskbar (as far as I know) and place the Start button on the right side, with the clock and icons in the bottom-left corner. It doesn't seem that important, but it's a restriction nonetheless. Over time, alternative shells have been developed that multiply customization options; however, that's just one case. Then we have keyboard shortcuts. Alt+Tab is one of the most well-known... and we can't change it without external software. AutoHotkey does an excellent job, and the old KeyTweak is not far behind, but there's another path: replacing the Alt+Tab function with something else.
FastWindowSwitcher: A Different Approach
It's about FastWindowSwitcher. Instead of pressing Alt+Tab and switching from one window to another until you find the right task, FastWindowSwitcher generates a layer that automatically assigns a letter to each window. Press the key, and the window is selected. FastWindowSwitcher's keyboard shortcut to activate its layer is Win+Y, a strange combination derived from the QWERTZ keyboard layout used in Germany. Fortunately, modifying it is not complicated, and the recommendation is to use something like Alt+Z.
Development and Availability
FastWindowSwitcher is in a very early stage of development. The version number is only 0.1.0.0, but since it's an open source project, anyone can help fix bugs and introduce new options. The program is portable, has no installer, scores a perfect 0/64 on VirusTotal, and if you want it to start with Windows, you'll need to place a shortcut in the Start menu.
