I have a similar problem with "show desktop". I have setup a hotspot on my desktop that opens the nextstart menu on right click.
Now, if I alt+tab, win+d or win+tab to desktop the hotspot doesn't work! If I manually minimize every window or win+m it works just fine.
I use those shortcuts all the time with mouse macros so I can't just disable them..
I didn't have active on mousehover checked and I tried the newest beta in your link.
Windows7 x64, Winstep trial version 12.02.0685

That's a different kind of problem.

By reading what I wrote in this thread, you probably already realizes how much of an 'hack' Show Desktop really is.

When Windows raises the Desktop, it actually brings to the front of the z-order a full screen window with a 'Worker_W' class name, and 'moves' the contents of the normal Desktop into it.

But, you see, the problem is that this Worker_W window is NOT the real Desktop window - therefore the hotspot activator in NextSTART will not recognize a click on it as a click on the real Windows Desktop.

As an alternative, remember you can also used edge bumps to activate hotspots, or even buttons in the Quick Launch area of the NextSTART taskbar, to show menus.

I know, right?
I even tried in hotspot wizard typing Worker_W when it asks the window title but as I expected it didn't work.
I already use edge bumps, they work always.
I'll just use win+m from now on.

Worker_W is the class name, the window itself has no title.

Anyway, goes without saying that, time permitting, I'll see what I can do to work around this.

And I did. Your hotspots on the desktop will work properly in the official v12.2 release even when Show Desktop is active.

Just letting you know that I found a few bugs/issues with the new update alt tab is working great but on the video you will see that once you alt-tab from browser to desktop when you right click on shelf the window appears behind the shelf. Also if you alt-tab from browser to desktop then maximize browswer by clicking the icon on the taskbar the dock and shelf stays I even tried clicking anywhere on the browser as you could see and dock still there only goes away if you click anywhere on the dock or shelf.

http://youtu.be/o1AC4XZ2KwA

Thanks for the video, that helped me reproduce the issue here. Indeed they were two separate problems, the menus under the Shelf and the browser under the docks/Shelf.

I've fixed both, but there was one casualty: in the z-order settings for docks, etc, there was an option to 'tie' everything together (Normal, Linked to Shelf), so that clicking on a dock with bring all the docks and the Shelf forward at the same time.

Because of the z-order complications this can cause, I can no longer maintain that ability (in truth, I don't even know if anybody still uses it).

Was there? I didn't know that. Not that it would matter, I wouldn't want that to happen. So... in my view it's more like putting down an old horse rather than a casualty of war...

...which brings to mind something that a guy -- it was one of those major programming Gurus like Ritchie, Kernighan, Stroustrup, don't remember who -- once said, that he dreamt of an A.I.-based application development environment where people would just *tell* the computer what they wanted it to do, and it would create the programme itself, instead of having to do battle with the computer, trying to *force* it to do what they want.
Too good to be true, eh?

What, and take away all the fun from it? Eheh.

Ah, yes... the endless hours of actually struggling with libraries, dependencies and data transfer quirks, instead of actually writing useful code... Who would want to miss that?

See? That's the fun part.

The harder it is, the more satisfaction you get when you succeed.