Winspector has pretty much every feature Microsoft's Spy++ has. Winspector goes a lot further than Spy++, here's a brief list of how:
Can hide invisible windows. Sounds nice but what does it mean? It means you can reduce the clutter in the window list from 50 windows down to just 5!
You can display more than one set of window properties. Spy++ is MDI so why did they implement properties as a modeless dialog!
You can view windows by the window hierarchy or by process. This can save you a ton of time hunting to find your window.
Right-click on a message to hide it. It also hides all previous instances of that message - these messages aren't lost, they are just hidden.
You can pause the output of the messages - but messages are not lost, they are still being recorded and when you un-pause they will be displayed.
If you wish to see all hidden messages again then right-click to show them all - none have been lost, all have been recorded.
One click to copy window properties such as caption text or window class and whatever else is displayed.
Automatically refresh the window list.
Automatically start showing window messages when a window class is seen. Winspector manages groups of classes and you can decide whether to show the properties or messages for a window. No more messing around getting Spy++ to see your window. I *love* this feature.
Right-click a message to look it up on google.com - couldn't be simpler. The search engine and URLs used will be configurable at some point in the future too.
Easy to find highlighting of windows from the window list
Icons for common window classes so you can see at a glance what type of window you are looking at. Also, you can add your own by adding an icon in the "Class-Icons" folder and giving the icon the same name as your window class.
Log all window creation and destruction and single click to add window classes to the watch list or to view it's messages. Next time they are created you see all.
Saves message filters as XML, each filter is associated with a window class.
Message filters can be toggled on and off. This is great for double checking whether you have missed an important message.
Message filters can be edited via a GUI to remove bulk messages - much easier to use than the Spy++ equivalent. Right-click the messages window and select Edit message filter...
A single click-drag operation to find a window in the window list. No more clumsy Spy++. If you hold down CTRL then a message window is created, hold down SHIFT and a properties window is displayed.
Save messages to text or XML file. See the XML example and text example for details. These examples are from watching the Zoom+ window from before the window is created to it being closed.
Ability to edit styles and extended styles of any window.
Bookmarks in the message list. Using the traditional MSVC CTRL+F2 etc. you can drop bookmarks and go back to them.
Automatically expand either all messages or just a select few. If you have chosen a few then these are remembered for next time.
Highlight messages on a per message type basis. Want to see all WM_NOTIFY messages highlighted? Just right click and there they are.
