Today I set out to find some kind of utility that would let me keep a window on top of other windows that runs on Microsoft Windows. That sounds like of confusing, I know. But it's a feature that most UNIX like systems have and it makes a computer much more easy to use. Sometimes it's just nice to have a window that stays above other windows.

Gnome for Linux has this, and I love it. All I have to do is right click on the title bar of a window and I can select the menu item that says "keep this window above others" (or something like that).

I want this feature for Windows 7 and I want it to be as easy to use as it is on a Linux desktop like Gnome. I simply want to be able to right click on a window's title bar and see the option to keep a window on top. Is this so much to ask?

There is a program that I found which seems to do this and it's called "Actual Title Buttons" but it's not free. I want free. I know there's got to be a free program out there that does what I need it to do.

I found it! - a free "always on top" utility for Microsoft Windows


Ok, after doing some more Googling, I found what I'm looking for. It's a program that's a little old (the last release was in 2007) and although the software creator doesn't mention any Windows 7 support, it works great on Windows 7.

The name of this program is PowerMenu. It is free and it will let you keep any window on top of other windows when you're using Microsoft Windows.

I installed it and it went smoothly. Once it was installed, I could right click on the top bar of any window and see the menu that lets me keep a window on above all other windows.

PowerWindow also has some other features. You can right click on a window's title bar and easily adjust the window's transparency.

Another feature is how a window's priority can be adjusted. My first guess is that this is kind of like the 'nice' command on Linux, but I'm not really sure. I haven't tested this feature.

There's also a feature that lets you minimize a program window to the system tray which could be nice for some folks.

There's one possible downside about this program for some. I read some comments on the author's web page that indicate that PowerMenu might not work on 64 bit Windows operating systems. It's worth a try though as it works great on my Windows 7 32 bit laptop.

If you want a nice "Always on top" feature for Microsoft Windows, you might not need to look any further than PowerMenu.