Apparently Apple enabled multitasking gestures on the iPad in a 4.3 beta but later removed them… However those that managed to get them have maintained them through future updates (at least up to 4.3.2).
This site http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/13/want-new-gesture-controls-in-ios-4-3-on-your-ipad-heres-how/ describes a way to re-enable them if you do a collection of steps and buy an app but that seems a bit drastic for basic functionality.
Are there any other free options to re-enable this feature?
Best Answer
Both the latest Xcode 3 and the latest Xcode 4 allow you to mark an iPad with the latest 4.3.x as being "used for development". You can cancel if asked for your developer program credentials (which cost $99) and still have access to the gesture switch on the iPad.
Xcode 4 is only available presently as a $5 download from the Mac App store or with the $99 paid Mac Developer program as a restricted download. The free developer account (which still allows you to get Xcode 3) is fairly painless to set up as long as you can agree to all the conditions. You can see the various free and paid programs at http://developer.apple.com/programs/which-program/ - it used to be simpler but the free account is still fairly powerful but not on the cutting edge with pre-release
As with anything that is in software development, all things subject to change often and YMMV.