Keeping keynote presentation active while showing another window

I don't think so, but since Dashboard Widgets can appear in front of Keynote, contact the app vendor and see if they can get a widget done for you!

Yeah, that's a bit more complex than Keynote can handle. Some developers just don't want to update their code for fear of leaving their base behind (which, in a school setting, is understandable)

The setting described here should allow you to use it in front of Keynote.

http://www.boinx.com/chronicles/2006/01/12/mousepos-and-keynote-3/

I see, the other App just needs to be written so that they have a mode that displays in the layer in front of Keynote. Other apps have been able to do it, but I can imagine they'd want to see what's coming out tomorrow before committing changes.

We'll see what happens at Macworld.

Don't really have an answer here. Just wanted to point out I'm stuggling with the same issue. I've been presenting in PowerPoint / PC with a TurningPoint audience response system / software.

I just got a MacBook to take advantage of Keynote. Like you, I'm trying to figure out how to toggle between Keynote presentations and TurningPoint for Mac PowerPoint.

I'm in front of large audience and I'd love to be able to move between the two programs without interrupting the flow of the workshop.

Someone at Macworld told me of a great piece of software that does audience participation feedback with Keynote, but I didn't get to talk with them before all my other meetings were over. I'll see if I can get some info on them.

Before version 3, Keynote used the "ScreenSaver" layer to display all it's animations. This is because, since that layer is frontmost, it allows the smoothest playback of Quartz effects. With Keynote 3, since the display is more efficient and video cards more powerful, they allow the option for Keynote being set to another layer which allows other items to overlay it.

With the release of Keynote 3, many properly written apps were able to take over the screen (SmartSketch, mouseposé) where they weren't able to before with no changes to their software. They SHOULD be able to overlay Keynote without forcing you to switch to their app and I'd think that, unless they're maintaining compatibility with 10.2, that they'd be able to update to do this.

Hi, don't know it this will help you, but it did solve another annoying related problem which had been bugging even Brian and Kyn. I quote from an old post of mine.

The question was:

When I interrupt a slide with Front Row to play a
song, I get the desktop back afterwards rather than
the slide I interrupted. I have to manually click on
the Keynote icon to get back to my slide. Is this the
intended behavior? It would be really nice if the
interrupted slide would come back up.

My answer was:
This drove me mad until I discovered the trick. This assumes you're using the Apple Remote.

1) click through KN until the point you want to switch out to Front Row. (This can be any point, say build 27 on a slide with 43 builds. It can even be in the middle of an embedded QT movie - yes, even a 1920x1080 HDV assuming you've got the codec from FCP or QMaster).

2) this is the important bit. Click the ENTER button on the remote - in the centre of the click wheel - BEFORE you click the MENU button to call up Front Row. The freezes KN at exactly the moment you click.

3) Do whatever you want in Front Row

4) Return to KN using the MENU Button to get back up the Front Row hierarchy

5) Then click the ENTER button again to restart KN at exactly the point you left it. You do not get the Desktop back and you do not need to manually click the present slides button in KN.

This really blew 'em away at one of my recent gigs.

That's good to hear that a vendor is listening to their customers! 🙂