Windows Taskbar: Frequently Asked Questions

Published: May 4, 2009

Applies To: Windows 7

e37a8427-c759-4bcc-836f-50a0e44634be

The New Windows Taskbar: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Windows Taskbar in Windows 7?

The Windows® Taskbar is the area at the bottom of the screen where you can launch programs, open documents, and work with different windows. In Windows 7, the Taskbar consolidates functions you experienced in earlier Windows versions, such as the Quick Launch bar, Recent Documents, the notification area, desktop shortcuts, and application buttons. The Windows Taskbar will likely become one of the primary ways you interact with Windows 7.

Why did Microsoft change the Windows Taskbar?

The development teams at Microsoft® had a mantra during Windows 7 development: Put the user in control. Microsoft looked at feedback that showed not only how people use Windows, but also how they try to use it. For example, having three or more places from which to launch a program wasn’t intuitive. Also, users often closed applications and reopened them just so they could reorder the buttons on the taskbar. The Windows Taskbar is one of the many features in Windows 7 that was driven by user feedback.

What are the differences between the taskbar in Windows 7 and Windows Vista?

Windows Vista® displayed buttons and icons in the taskbar. These included Quick Launch shortcuts, buttons for running programs, and icons in the notification area. In Windows Vista, Quick Launch shortcuts launched a program and taskbar buttons brought that program to the top.

Windows 7 combines the functionality of the Quick Launch shortcuts and program buttons. You can pin programs to the Windows Taskbar to make them quickly accessible, similar to how you can add shortcuts to the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows Vista. On the Taskbar in Windows 7, pinned programs look similar to running programs. Each icon on the Taskbar represents a program, and when a program is running, a glass box surrounds the program’s Taskbar icon.

Windows 7 extends the Taskbar’s program icons in other ways, too. On the Taskbar, program icons have Jump Lists, which display commands and recent documents. Additionally, you can pin documents to programs so they are always available. For example, you can pin Internet Explorer® to the Taskbar so that it’s always available. Then, you can pin your favorite Web sites to the Internet Explorer icon so you can open them quickly. To see your list of recent and pinned Web sites, right-click the Internet Explorer icon on the Taskbar to display its Jump List.

What are Jump Lists?

Programs have Jump Lists that you open by right-clicking their Windows Taskbar icons. You can think of Jump Lists as miniature Start menus for program icons on the Taskbar. Each Jump List can contain tasks, links to recent and frequently used documents, and links to pinned documents. For example, on the Windows Live Messenger Jump List, you can open the MSN home page or change your online status. Jump Lists are extensible and can be program specific, so experiment with your program icons.

Is there more to Windows Taskbar Preview than seeing a thumbnail of an open window?

Hovering the mouse pointer over a program’s Taskbar icon will show a small, live preview of the program right above its Taskbar icon. If a program has multiple items open, each item will have a preview. For example, if you have three Web sites open in three tabs of Internet Explorer, you’ll see three previews over the Internet Explorer icon in the Taskbar when you point at the icon. This is great for monitoring the progress of a download while doing other work. Hovering over a particular preview will show a full-screen preview of the item to which you’re pointing and make all other on-screen windows transparent. Clicking the preview will bring that instance of the application to the front and restore all other open windows to their previous locations. c

What’s the coolest new Windows Taskbar feature?

Different users will answer this question differently. Most will probably agree that the following are the top four features:

  • Pinning frequently used programs to the Taskbar makes them quickly accessible.

  • More room is available on the Taskbar, allowing users to work with programs in an uncluttered way.

  • Jump Lists make recently used and frequently used files and commands readily available.

  • Live previews make working with programs easier.

Can you give me a tip to impress my friends?

Pressing the Windows key plus a number key (for example, 1, 2, or 3) will launch the application that holds that position on the Taskbar. For example, press the Windows key + 1 to launch the first program icon on the Taskbar, and press the Windows key + 2 to launch the second program icon on the Taskbar.

What should I tell my friends and family about the Taskbar in Windows 7?

When describing Windows 7 to your friends and family, you can tell them that the new Taskbar provides one place from which to launch, switch to, and access the features of their programs. Using the Taskbar, your friends and family can easily see running programs. If they’ve opened many applications, they can switch with confidence and precision to the windows that they want. In Windows 7, working with programs can be easier than in Windows Vista or Windows XP, because the Taskbar features larger icons, previews, and Jump Lists. More computer-savvy friends and family will want to know that Windows 7 puts them in control of their experiences. They can easily customize the Taskbar and quickly manage their programs and windows on their own terms.

See Also

Tags :


Community Content

lnxnm1
Feedback
<p>I too originally disliked the multipurpose taskbar grouping, but while I quickly got used to it, it remains myopically imperfect. It freed up a lot taskbar space by superimposing running and non running applications, and there's a slight visual indicator in the form of a transparent box around a running Icon, so they're not all that mixed up.<br /></p> <p>A veteran user takes the mouse over previews like a fish to water. However where it most suffers is in the utter and complete failure to differentiate between multiple instances of a running program, and blends them all together. It's not that big a deal in the single sense that full screen preview, provided the necessary hardware to support it is there, allows one to rapidly go through them and find what's desired. <br /></p> <p>Despite that, things slow down once again with a larger number of multiple instances or windows in that minipreview collapses to mere title bars that then require finer mouse control while your eyes are taken away from it to scan the full screen preview.<br /></p> <p>This eleminates the ability to efficiently run concurrent and unrelated research threads, for example, whereas previously each instance was independently grouped. This will only cause the power users to suffer with reduced functionality. All this is made worse as it treats open tabs as it does seperate instances.</p> <p /> <p>That said, the functionality could largely be maintained if differing instances were at least colour coded such that they were easily dissassociated from one another.</p> <p /> <p>What else should be colour coded is the active display tab, as the tiny little "X" is so easily lost as it blends in with the text.<br /></p> <p>I think those changes would restore the proper functionality for the heavier users among us. <br /></p> <p>Where this new system truly suffers the most however is for first time PC users, particularly those of advanced age, who are learning everything for the first time.</p> <p> <br /> They have a far more difficult task grasping the concept of a running program to a non running program, as the visual indication of it "turning on" is so very slight. Something like seperate instances and tabs becomes impossible for them to grasp as there's no differentiating them at all. So while it's "simpler", it's too "simple", and you've greatly extended the novice's learning curve, for a concept that otherwise was "simple".<br /></p> <p> </p> <p>Moreover, all the space that's been freed up is being wasted by using it for mundane things like favorites/links that lack any ability for grouping. Such grouping should remain an easily set option, per program, to truly restore control for the user. <br /></p> <p> <br /> </p> <p />
Tags :

abrucewebb
I would like to....
...have the option to un-group taskbar tabs. In other words, I would like to be able to open an instance of IE and then perhaps several other apps and then another instance of IE that stays in that order instead of the second IE tab ending up next to the first instance. So far, Taskix doesn't run on Windows 7.<br /><br />Also, I don't agree that the classic start menu is "a GUI that panders to the lowest common denominator". If it wasn't for ClassicShell, I wouldn't be using Windows 7 at all. <br /><br />I, too, dislike the fact that running and non-running program icons get mixed up. That's why I use the tabs and not the icons. It is also why I have turned off/disabled/worked around all four of "the coolest features" listed above. I find all of them inefficient or distracting. <br /><br />I'm in the camp that wants OPTIONS so that I can have my computer look and behave the way I want it to act and behave. I am not against the "new and improved" being the default, but there should be the option to turn it all off and use what we, the user, want to use. Personally, that means classic start menu, classic explorer, quick launch, and even the Rainy Day theme (all of which, fortunately, I've been able to get). Let the user decide what they want. <br />
Tags :

Jooky DFW
How to get the XP style taskbar with separate Quick Launch and Task List
<p>Wish it would work like this by default.<mtps:InstrumentedLink NavigateUrl="http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=2490&amp;tag=leftCol;post-1743" runat="server" xmlns:mtps="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/mtps"><br /><br />http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=2490&amp;tag=leftCol;post-1743</mtps:InstrumentedLink></p>
Tags :

Thomas Lee
There should have been an option to use the XP style taskbar in the properties menu.
And how do you get to "XP Mode" using the basic Windows 7 "Ultimate" version?<br /><br /> There should have been an option to use the XP style taskbar in the properties menu.<br /><br /><pre><p>[tfl - 30 05 10] Hi - and thanks for your post.You should post questions like this to the Technet Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/technet or the MS Newsgroups at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/. You are much more likely get a quick response using the forums than through the Community Content. For specific help about:<br />Exchange : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.exchange%2C&amp;<br />SQL Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.sqlserver%2C&amp;<br />Windows : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows%2C&amp;<br />Windows Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows.server%2C&amp;<br />Virtual Server : http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.virtualserver/topics?lnk<br />Full Public : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public%2C&amp;<br /></p></pre><p><br /></p><br />

srjarmstrong
Warrented change
This changes has been done for all the right reason. In my humble opinion the very worst feature of Windows XP was ability to use the "classic start menu", this 'feature' was further abused by the ability of ignorant network administrator to force users to use the classic start menu instead of encouraging uses to embrace a more fully featured start menu. LEts not encourage a GUI that panders to the lowest common denominator.
Tags :

Idislikechoosingnames
I would like to...
have an option to always push unopened programs to the left so they aren't mixed in with running programs. While the new taskbar is quite usable, and has some nice features (e.g. jumplists) I already miss my XP style Quicklaunch toolbar. I typically have a lot of things running at one time, and having to scan thru the taskbar to look for an icon when I know the program is not open yet is a bit annoying. Sure, as I open items i can drag drop them to the right (or the unopened ones to the left), but thats a bit of a pain.
Tags :

Page view tracker