I’ve heard a number of complaints from “switchers” and Windows users about the Mac’s command+tab application switching behavior. The complaint is always the same: It only shows applications, how can I get to the exact window that I want?

Now, I’m a cross-platform-dresser, myself, and am equally (or nearly so) expert in both Windows and the Mac. In fact, I use Windows every day, probably for more time than I use my Mac. But the thing is, the alt+tab application switcher does show all the windows and documents, but I find it more frustrating than useful.

I suspect the reason why I find it so frustrating, is that I tend to open a large number of documents in the same program. To the alt+tab switching window, one Excel file looks like another, so if I have five or six spreadsheets open, I have to scrub through each one to see what the filename is.

What I tend to do is just switch to Excel and then select the document I want from the list of open windows. Pretty much the same as I do on the Mac.

But there are time, I’ll admit, when picking exactly the right window would be a time saver, so I went looking for the solution. I found it in Witch by Peter Maurer (creator of Butler and many other fine Macintosh utilities).