Andrew knowing the version of Windows might help us. Not sure that is possible but we'll wait for a more informed opinion.

You could increase the number of programs showing in the pop up menu when you click the Start button. Right click Start, click Properties, click the Start menu tab then click Customise. Here you can increase the number of recent openings from the default 10 to whatever your screen will allow, I have mine set at 20.

You could also try creating folders and drag similar icons into them sorted as you want them. Right click the desktop and select 'New folder', name it then drag icons into it. The only issue here is a double click needed to open that folder but certainly workable.

Thanks for your help. I'm using Windows 7. Trawling Google I found the term I'm looking for is virtual desktop and I found a program that might help, called Dexpot.It's a little clumsy but it might be the closest I'll find to an answer.

You can also put icons that you use often in a folder in your documents, name it, right click on your task bar, then toolbars, then new toolbar. Follow the path to your new folder and add it to your task bar. It will open like the old quick launch which W 7 doesn't have. This helps keep my desktop clean.

Win7 has quicklaunch
Right click task bar, Properies, choose the toolbar tab.. check the box for Quicklaunch.
It puts it on the right near the other icons

Here is a link that might be useful: Configure Advanced User Progfile Properties, Win7

Mine doesn't have that option and when my PC was new I researched it and found a lot of unhappy people out there, so I wasn't the only one. I found a post from someone who wrote for MS, he said they had dropped it. This was the only option I found to have everything handy. They must have put in the option in later editions.

Maybe I am just missing something, but to resolve this concern why can't he just create two (or more) user accounts?

From the Vista on-board help:

.....a separate user account with unique settings and preferences, such as a desktop background and color theme.....

And assuming W7 still retains Vista's Fast User Switching and it is similarly accessible:

Fast User Switching is a way to change users on a computer without closing programs and files first.

Click the Start button , and then click the arrow next to the lock button. Click Switch User, and then click the user you want to switch to.

Warning: Make sure to save any open files before switching users because Windows does not automatically save files that are open. If you switch to a different user and that user shuts down the computer, any unsaved changes you have made to files that are open on your account will be lost.

DA

Mark Russinovich at Microsoft/Sysinternals has a desktop profile program.. tiny program.

Just played with it a moment ago.. simple icon added to the system tray. You probably want to mark it start with windows... so its easy to disable or delete, otherwise you will scratch your head wondering how to get rid of it someday.

whoops
should have left a link.... Desktops ...
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881

Here is a link that might be useful: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881

I have simple method. Using wordpad in win7 copy the url for the program or site you want to go to. Make sure that it is underlined and save the file with a name. When you open the file just right click on the url and the program will ask you if you want to open the url just click on YES and away you go. Repeat until you have as many as you want. I tried this with wordpad on an XP computer vut it did not work.