Windows 7 icons in taskbar

[MrGuvernment]

For one, stop assuming i was using XP proir to Windows 7, I wasnt, i loved Vista, but i had my "bitches" about it,not saving folder views, but then i am sure you would just argue i should accept the new OS cause it is better....

So.. install Vista, hell, install XP or 2000. Leave the advancements of modern OS'es to the rest of us that can learn how to adapt to a more useful system.

Wow, defensive aren’t you, super bar is the only issue i have with 7, something i was very used to and enjoy, i have gotten used to the new super bar, but that doesn’t mean i like it.

More clicks to do the same thing he wanted to do sounds suspiciously like a step backwards, not an advancement.

Different usage habits have different optimal UIs, it's not rocket science, and there is no "one-best-way" that is the same for everyone.

Exactly, it is more clicks, sure it only adds some seconds, but the point it, it takes more to do the same thing.

Get a grip?...

Moving your wrist more then 1cm either way is apparently to hard for you and I'm out of touch?

Fight with me all you want but I embraced the innovations of Windows 7 (as did many, many other enthusiasts/power users on this site) and have adapted to where they are MUCH more intuitive and fluid.

Like I said.. Install XP be done with it.

has nothing to do about being hard, it is simply something i dont like and to me is a step backwards, i know plenty of people who dont use the quicklaunch, never did, i used it alot, and i liked it.

Again, how is having to click something , which previously only took 1 click, which can now take 2 or 3 more, intuitive? your seem overly defensive about this matter....

advancements to those that can adapt? are you shitting me?

does Microsoft, who is constantly trying to dumb things down for 'every-day users' or 'parents', do you think they know best on how you should run/setup your workstation?

get a grip, man. there are plenty of software apps out there who on their continuing quest to 'find a reason to get you to upgrade to a new build', fuked something up...hence, why many people continue to use older revisions of software.

quick launch works great for me...i have all of the programs i open quite frequently (and hdd partition shortcuts), right there. a single click. done. even opening the start menu and moving my mouse 1/2 way across the screen and finding my app is a pain.

taking my hand off the mouse to type to find an app is a waste, as well (except for non-common used apps)

exactly 1 click , done

More clicks? Um, wtf are you talking about? One click, bam, program launches. Why keep an actual text document on the bar? How 'bout organizing your documents? That's what "My Documents" is for. If you really want, right click the taskbar and select "new toolbar". You can put any folder and it's contents on the taskbar, and you can launch individual files from the taskbar if you want to.

You may have known this if you were spending less time bitching and more time actually getting to know the taskbar/OS.

Now, with that said, stfu and enjoy W7 - which is leagues better than the fossil that is XP.

CLIFFS: If you're really THAT lazy and need to open individual documents from your taskbar, right click the damn thing, select "new toolbar" and select whatever folder you want, containing whatever documents you want. Launch them straight from the taskbar. Bam, quit yer bitchin'.

Again, you keep going on with this bitching and adapting, get over yourself and your great ability to move on to a new OS, as said, quick launch is the only issue I have with windows 7, it is my pet peeve, but isn’t stopping me from using it, so drop your superior attitude, this has NOTHING to do with being lazy, or unorganized, it is about having to click multiple times now to do the same thing that coudl be done before with 1 click.

I don’t want to create a new toolbar to launch a folder, i want to launch one single file with 1 single click, not going into my documents, which is very organized by type and name and open the file, maybe you don’t have that many documents, but at work i have about 15+ txt files i open daily alone with diff info in them, then various excel files, word docs and so on which i use daily, it is nice to click /open done, not click, find, with say notepad, by the end of the day when i right click on the notepad icon i can have 20-30+ note pad files now listed there, which i only opened once and may not again for some time, so now i need to search through those ones to find the ones i use, waste of time.

Why do people complain when someone wants to change something to their liking? It's a matter of preference and everyone CAN DO whatever works best for them. I like the quick launch bar because I think it's better than the new one. That is all there is to it. And yes, I will continue to use new operating systems for their other features- namely the way they control hardware.

The new taskbar is basically the same as the old one. The reason some of us are saying you should "deal with it" is because the new taskbar has ALL of the functionality of the old one, plus new features that you all DON'T have to use.

Seriously, read my last post. It's as simple as "right click, new toolbar". Bam, done, end of story.

Don't let the fact that some of you are too damn lazy to figure this shit out be the reason that you're stuck with an obsolete OS.

EDIT: Wow, I just found out that you can pin inividual files to whatever program you have pinned on the taskbar. I dragged a .psd to the Photoshop icon and pinned it...now I just right click the icon (of left click/slide up) and choose which file I want to open. Fucking WAY better than anything the old quicklaunch had to offer.

no, the new taskbar does not have ALL of the functionality of the old,. i cant open a document with 1 click

For you it may be better sure, but wait until you get 50 .psd files there... have fun searching through them all to find the one you want.

Now, what they should do is the option for:

"Store and display recently opened items in the start menu and the taskbar"

should of separated it, cause if i turn that off, the super bar now only has links to open programs , and no documents, all it would take is one simple option.

I love your attitude though about how we are all lazy and can’t figure things out, i had this task bar figured out the first day i had the beta's installed and didn’t like it, i have tried everything i could find to make it work how I like it, but doesn’t seem possible, so me being "so dam lazy" according to you, since you are the all mighty know it all, I adapted to the new one, but i still don’t like it. I haven’t used XP since Vista came out either fyi, i don’t like XP, it is old and dated and needs to die.

Really, get over your self righteous attitude of being so above everyone cause you’re not lazy and figured things out, most people likely had windows 7 figured long before you even had it installed, and i am sure others don’t like the superbar. I am sure there are plenty of things you have bitched and complained about that are related to computers that others didnt, doesnt mean they should claim you are things your not when you dont even know the person.

I will come on here and bitch and praise all i want about whatever i want, you dont like it, dont read it.

 

[stop!theradio]

LMAO! Dude, seriously, just stop, please. Can't get documents open with one click? How funny, I can do that. In fact, I explained to you how to do that and you're still NOT getting it. Just wait until I have 50+ .psd files? I have over 900 .psd's as I edit model photography for a huge part of my living. You expect me to keep all of my .psd's on a quicklaunch bar?
My problem isn't that you can do things your own way (because, honestly, go ahead, be my guest...enjoy having your 50+ .psd's sitting in your quicklaunch...), but the fact that people are saying you can't have quicklaunch functionality, that's the problem. Another point I'd like to make for pinning documents, see this:

That's the right click menu for my PSCS4 icon on my taskbar. For one, you see the document at the top? That actual document is tucked neatly away in it's very own subfolder in my projects folder, but I have it pinned to that menu and it will stay there for as long as I need it to. Same with ANY other file. I can pin any file I want to any of these menus that I want to, and the actual file itself stays in its nice, neat location in a subfolder in my projects 2009 folder. And displayed as well is, *GASP*, all the recently opened documents for that program. So that new system (which you don't have to use), rather than clumping a bunch of random documents together that I'll have to dig through, neatly puts documents recently used by that specific program in the menu, as well as whatever documents I'd like to pin to that menu.

In my opinion, it's leagues better than quicklaunch, and most agree. Of course that doesn't mean you have to agree, but if you're REALLY that worried about having to click *twice* instead of once, then...I'm sorry. I mean, shit - chances are, you'd have to click open the little quicklaunch arrow to expand the menu to find what you're looking for in the first place...I mean with your 50+ .psd's and all. And that, my friend, would result in two clicks. Surely you don't have your whole entire quicklaunch menu items taking up your entire taskbar space, right?



EDIT: GOD, I just read what you were saying about your 15+ text documents...seriously, do you keep all this stuff just clumped into your quicklaunch folder? 1.) I don't see how you have all of these documents in your quicklaunch without having to click the little expand arrow first before being able to even see all the documents you're looking for and 2.) If you do have it organized, then surely you've got folders in your quicklaunch, right? Like, I used to have my quicklaunch menu set up "System, Programs, Pictures", etc, but they were menus with links to the program/stuff I needed. So, in essence, I had to click the "Programs" folder before I could click the program I wanted to use, resulting in two clicks. Now, unless you clump all of your documents together in one sea of disorganization, then I don't see how you only have to click once to open what you need to open.

 

[SYN ACK]

ok. i understand how useful it is now ... ive moved firefox shortcut into the win7 'supertaskbar'

however, things that DONT work:

i have direct shortcuts to each of my drives, and certain folders in those drives (e.g. direct shortcut to a music dir).

when i try loading these into the taskbar, it creates one high-level explorer shortcut, and then i have to right click that and then click my drive-shortcut.... an extra step that i dont like

2) i have multiple command window shortcuts, each of different size and colour (when troubleshooting with a million cmd windows open for ping, traceroute, etc), you want different colours and different sized windows for ping, vs larger window sizes for ssh/telnet, etc.

it only allows me one instant of the command window ? anyone know a way around this?

 

[SYN ACK]

so looks like ill keep both -

quick launch for directory/drive explorer shortcuts (to cut down an extra step of right clicking then scrolling up and clicking my drive)....and command prompts, and then the rest can go in the new super taskbar.

 

[MrGuvernment]

LMAO! Dude, seriously, just stop, please. Can't get documents open with one click? How funny, I can do that

actually it is 2 click, one to open the pinned seciton and then one to choose the file


It seems i miss-understood your pinned folder option you have at the top there, i thought you meant you pinned the folder, then you would need to click the icon, go to the folder then browse through the folder, i do apologies for that..

i didnt realize, but now i do, that the quicklaunch acts as a recent files + quicklaunch system, if you drag the ones you want to the top of the pinned menu, in all of my readings never once did i see that mentioned, nor did any one ever show images like you did, and for that i thank you! (but it still takes more then one click

how do you stop your quicklaunch from not adding any .psd file you open to it, but still keep some in it with out pinning them all?

what i did actually have was i made my bottom bar 2 lines hi, the top was all quicklaunch icons , i understood the superbar has recent files opened and such, and that is what bugged me as it seemed you cant control what stays and what doesnt.

 

[stop!theradio]

It seems i miss-understood your pinned folder option you have at the top there, i thought you meant you pinned the folder, then you would need to click the icon, go to the folder then browse through the folder, i do apologies for that..

See, that would piss me off lol. I wouldn't like it so much if it were like that.

i didnt realize, but now i do, that the quicklaunch acts as a recent files + quicklaunch system, if you drag the ones you want to the top of the pinned menu, in all of my readings never once did i see that mentioned, nor did any one ever show images like you did, and for that i thank you! (but it still takes more then one click

actually it is 2 click, one to open the pinned seciton and then one to choose the file

When I'm talking about one click, I meant the "add new toolbar" method I was talking about. You can make a "toolbar" out of any folder, and it will display that folders contents on the taskbar. I made a "test" toolbar and included a folder I made of blank notepad documents. When you unlock the taskbar, you can resize the new toolbar in the same way you could resize the quicklaunch bar when you unlocked the old taskbar. Simply click any one of those documents and bam, it opens up it's parent program.

My whole point was that if someone does have a lot of documents in their quicklaunch folder, chances are they have to click the expand arrow to see them all, and then they have to click the document. So it would be 2 clicks on the old method and the new method, either way. I like the new method better because it organizes the commonly used files in that little right click menu on it's parent program icon, along with whatever else you decide to pin up there. It's as simple as dragging a file (no matter where it's located) onto the program icon in the taskbar. Once you do that, it'll ask if you'd like to pin it to that program, so it'll always show up when you right click the icon. And you can unpin any document just as easy.

 

[bigdogchris]

Agreed with above. Don't get why people need quick launch with the new taskbar. But then again, I don't get why people need a lot of things.

For a lot of reasons. I don't like how the button becomes the tab for one. Plus with multiple windows open if you have condensed it makes it hard to see what windows are open. I run my taskbar in never combine and in that case with quick launch it makes it easier to see what's open if I remove the task tabs and use quick launch instead.

I do however leave windows explorer in the new tabs on task bar but the rest of the icons I move back to quick launch.

 

[Jon55]

I've been messing around with it for a long time and can't figure out how to add a couple icons next to my start menu in Windows 7. I want it similar to vista where I can have a IE icon or Firefox icon next to the start button. Also, is there any way to get the show desktop icon there?

edit: To be clear, I already have it there but I want it to just be an icon regardless of when I click it. Currently when I open it up, a box replaces the icon.

I don't understand, the whole task bar IS quick launch now. Why would you want the old style quick launch?

I like that the TaskBar in Windows 7 is the best, most usable taskbar to date and yet somehow people are having the hardest time with it.

 

[Tawnos]

I don't think a lot of people realize that they can launch multiple copies of a new program with middle click (or shift click) or open new admin copies with ctrl click.

The superbar is great. Most people kept their most used programs on quicklaunch. After launching them, the icons still took up space and were, from that point on, useless. About the only thing I do with the quicklaunch is set to "never combine". With the improved search engine on the start menu, I find myself rarely needing to use pins for documents (since I can hit windows key, type a few letters, and press enter and 9/10 times get what I wanted).

Oh well, I've been happy with the superbar since first playing with it. It handles everything I want and better than any system I've used before.

 

[SYN ACK]

I don't understand, the whole task bar IS quick launch now. Why would you want the old style quick launch?

I like that the TaskBar in Windows 7 is the best, most usable taskbar to date and yet somehow people are having the hardest time with it.

i still use quicklaunch for command windows and drive shortcuts.

the superbar doesnt handle this very well .... see my above comment

 

[Tawnos]

i still use quicklaunch for command windows and drive shortcuts.

the superbar doesnt handle this very well .... see my above comment

...
Create a folder to hold the shortcuts you want. Right click and create a new shortcut. Make it a shortcut to cmd /k start <drive plus colon>. Name it what you want. Pin it to the superbar.

Now you can pin any drive you want there (just copy paste shortcut, change drive, and change icon as needed).

Same thing applies for shortcuts to different command windows. Make them with whatever flags you need. Since each shortcut gets its own UID, it can be pinned separately.

Bonus - you can delete the shortcut in that folder/off desktop/whatever after pinning. Any modification you need to make can be accessed by right clicking the name of the shortcut in the jump menu.

 

[Ragenrok]

thanks for the thread OP. I dont like the new windows 7 taskbar either and loved the windows vista one.

I tend to leave firefox open with my stuff and my wife opens a new windows instead of screwing up my pages. The new "turning into a tabw hen open way" was a pain in the butt for that as she was use to having the icon in the taskbar. And trying to teach her new things like middle mouse+click to open your new web browser is just a pain in the butt.

I like having the icons I use always there weather or not there already open.

neyond that windows 7 is great (loving the xp mode for old programs)

 

[VulcaN]

Yeah I agree, having the icon turn INTO the program on the taskbar is a disaster. The new taskbar is great, and its a good replacement to quicklaunch, but damnit just leave the icon there. The only way this could be valuable to someone is if they have a 15" monitor and tons of icons pinned to their taskbar to save their precious taskbar real estate.

I have noticed that if you pin a shortcut to a program that launches another .exe then the icon will remain in the taskbar and the program will launch in its own taskbar window. This is a workaround if you really hate it, and since I only have 3 icons I keep in my taskbar I just made a few .exe's to launch my programs then pinned those .exe's to the taskbar.

 

[phide]

Yeah I agree, having the icon turn INTO the program on the taskbar is a disaster.

I couldn't disagree more. All you'd be doing with additional icons is wasting taskbar real estate and creating user confusion. That's all that accomplishes.

The only way this could be valuable to someone is if they have a 15" monitor and tons of icons pinned to their taskbar to save their precious taskbar real estate.

Or for those who like to know where there icons are going to be at all times. I rarely open the programs I use in the same sequence every time, and the pin feature ensures that the icons stay in place and where I expect them to be no matter what else I have going on. That streamlines task switching. The more I pin, the more intuitive task switching becomes.

 

[QwertyJuan]

The new Taskbar IS THE BOMB! Embrace it people....

 

[SYN ACK]

...
Create a folder to hold the shortcuts you want. Right click and create a new shortcut. Make it a shortcut to cmd /k start <drive plus colon>. Name it what you want. Pin it to the superbar.

Now you can pin any drive you want there (just copy paste shortcut, change drive, and change icon as needed).

Same thing applies for shortcuts to different command windows. Make them with whatever flags you need. Since each shortcut gets its own UID, it can be pinned separately.

Bonus - you can delete the shortcut in that folder/off desktop/whatever after pinning. Any modification you need to make can be accessed by right clicking the name of the shortcut in the jump menu.

thanks - ill play with it tonight and see if i can get it to work with the flags.
i want a direct shortcut to my different drives, and say - a music folder drive.
by default, when i add the direct short-cuts to my drives/partitions, instead of creatign a separate icon on the superbar, it combines them into 1 (explorer), and when i right click on that, i can open the individual drive/short-cut.

hopefully i can get that to work, then drop quicklaunch.

 

[Tawnos]

Yeah I agree, having the icon turn INTO the program on the taskbar is a disaster. The new taskbar is great, and its a good replacement to quicklaunch, but damnit just leave the icon there. The only way this could be valuable to someone is if they have a 15" monitor and tons of icons pinned to their taskbar to save their precious taskbar real estate.

Why is it a disaster? In most cases, the extra copy of the icon only wastes space. You can use the middle mouse button to launch additional copies, and/or use shift click to do it. Having two copies of the same program on the taskbar, one for launch and one for use, is pretty useless.

I have noticed that if you pin a shortcut to a program that launches another .exe then the icon will remain in the taskbar and the program will launch in its own taskbar window. This is a workaround if you really hate it, and since I only have 3 icons I keep in my taskbar I just made a few .exe's to launch my programs then pinned those .exe's to the taskbar.

I already pointed out a way to do that without having to compile another program (use cmd or start from a shortcut to execute a program). I've yet to find a good use for that, except for those who can't seem to get their heads around the middle mouse button.

 

[stop!theradio]

I don't see how it's a disaster, either. I mean, seriously, it's totally clear when a program is open and when it's not. I don't see how people are confused over these things.

*shrugs*

 

[SYN ACK]

give it time - we'll all come around

 

[SYN ACK]

Don't you mean Pin To The Taskbar?

Its advantage is pretty obvious really.. You pin your most used items to the taskbar.. The lesser used item I pin to the Start Menu.

Eliminates the dead quick launch and you have a clean desktop with no icons.

Why not just adjust to the new way of doing things instead of living in the past? I to was a big Quick Launch user but with the new Task Bar the QL bar is obsolete.

how were you able to add so many icons in the start menu? (increase height of the start menu); mine seems to be limited to how many icons i can stuff in there

 

[Catweazle]

@ SYN ACK:

'Customise' start menu. Set 'number of recent programs' to zero. Then get busy right-clicking program icons and selecting 'Pin to start menu'


The height will alter in accordance with how many programs you pin there. This behaviour/technique hasn't altered from Windows XP onwards.

 

[General Crespin]

This seems like a great opportunity for someone to create a in depth guide to everything the new taskbar in Win7 does and pin it here.

 

[VulcaN]

Or for those who like to know where there icons are going to be at all times. I rarely open the programs I use in the same sequence every time, and the pin feature ensures that the icons stay in place and where I expect them to be no matter what else I have going on.

I couldn't disagree more with this statement.

Its a "disaster" (exaggeration) because icons used to stay in the quick launch area, but now I have my damn firefox icon floating on the taskbar somewhere down the middle of my screen.

For me, firefox is kept as the far right icon, just how ive always had it. But now, when I open a few instances of some programs that are kept to the left of firefox, it pushes the firefox icon out from being where it should be (in the bottom left corral of icons), to somewhere down the middle of the taskbar.

It doesnt take long to find it, but damn cant it just stay in one place? Its annoying to have to hunt for icons. It gets worse when you have icons sandwiched between instances of programs somewhere down the middle of the taskbar.

I like things neat, im not too OCD but I think all the icons should be together and the program windows should open to the right of them.

 

[-Dragon-]

My "quick launch" buttons stay where I put them in Win7, the only thing I can think of is you disabled program grouping and that's causing stuff to shift around so if that's the case, I dunno, maybe turn it back on? Heck it doesn't even require extra clicks just hover your mouse over the icon for a moment and the open windows will pop up, and between icon preview and aero preview I find I don't even look or care about the window name any more.

 

[QwertyJuan]

I couldn't disagree more with this statement.

Its a "disaster" (exaggeration) because icons used to stay in the quick launch area, but now I have my damn firefox icon floating on the taskbar somewhere down the middle of my screen.

For me, firefox is kept as the far right icon, just how ive always had it. But now, when I open a few instances of some programs that are kept to the left of firefox, it pushes the firefox icon out from being where it should be (in the bottom left corral of icons), to somewhere down the middle of the taskbar.

It doesnt take long to find it, but damn cant it just stay in one place? Its annoying to have to hunt for icons. It gets worse when you have icons sandwiched between instances of programs somewhere down the middle of the taskbar.

I like things neat, im not too OCD but I think all the icons should be together and the program windows should open to the right of them.

Your icons keep moving with the new 'bar' in Win7??

 

[VulcaN]

Yeah I don't use program grouping, hated it in XP / Vista and have had it disabled ever since.

Well heres a example of what I'm talking about, notice how the firefox icon has wandered it self into the middle of the taskbar, where as it should stay "pinned" to the left section with the other icons.

 

[QwertyJuan]

Oh... yeah I see... I use program grouping and don't have this problem. Why not just leave it default??

 

[Computurd]

WOW fi have learned alot about the taskbar in this thread, but when i set my document shortcut up there were like the ten most recently opened documents up there, which i sway too many, but when i was knocking around in the customize area i noticed that you can change how many of the recently opened files it shows...ROCKS!

 

[Computurd]

how do you set program grouping???

 

[-Dragon-]

Have you TRIED turning off names and turning back on grouping and use it for a few days? Sure it's different and takes a little adjusting but I've found I like the new way more than the old way. Seems a lot of issues are "I liked XP, I I tolerated Vista because I changed it to be like XP, I hate Win7 because I can't make it like XP".

Honestly having recent items on a per app basis on both the start menu and task bar with apps grouped and selecting the window you want by looking at an actual picture becomes much more natural with a bit of usage.

 

[stop!theradio]

I agree fully. Recently used stuff doesn't have to be all clumped together that way. It works out much better, IMO.

 

[Belgain Roffles]

Heck it doesn't even require extra clicks just hover your mouse over the icon for a moment and the open windows will pop up, and between icon preview and aero preview I find I don't even look or care about the window name any more.

First not requiring extra clicks is a moot point as you instead have to have your mouse hover over the icon for a little while, so you might as well click anyway. As for preview, it depends what programs you are using, but many spreadsheets and other programs look identical in the snapshot.

Oh... yeah I see... I use program grouping and don't have this problem. Why not just leave it default??

Depends on your usage. If I run lots of instances of different programs at the same time, I can't stand grouping as it requires extra navigation time.

I would love to have the default functionality for taskbar items which I do not open multiple instances of such as media players, email clients, etc... Unfortunately, the applications that do encourage ungrouped icons such as acrobat, excel, firefox, windows explorer make me ungroup them. In the end I would prefer a mix of both by having the default view for each program on the taskbar but then expanding if more than one instance was open at a given time, also in that hypothetical situation, the unexpanded icons should always stay to the left of the expanded ones to avoid playing "find the icon." I can do this already with programs that I keep minimized unless I have them up and can also minimize to the sytem tray such as Digsby & Foobar2000, but the pinned icons do not stay "lit" when it does so, but it's not a big deal.

Edit: My netbook's taskbar: (I still need to move the additional items in the QL bar to the start menu.)

 

[-Dragon-]

So don't just use the preview thumbnail, use the aero preview too where you see the whole window? Chances are if you're advanced enough to go around messing up the windows 7 taskbar trying to revive the XP glory years you probably know what order your windows are in anyway and don't really need the preview or name that much anyway past a slight reminder.

 

[stop!theradio]

^^Yup. You don't just get a thumbnail, when you mouse over the thumbnail, that specific window fades into full view. It's so damn convenient. Seriously people, actually try this stuff out before complaining about how it sucks.

 

[Catweazle]

Oh for goodness sake! All this argument!


Quick Launch can be easily added to the Windows 7 Taskbar, for those people who want to continue using it:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/add-the-quick-launch-bar-to-the-taskbar-in-windows-7/

The taskbar doesn't need to be 'ungrouped' in order to add it back. You can have it there and still have the new mode of taskbar operation as well. Get the best of both worlds!

 

[Belgain Roffles]

So don't just use the preview thumbnail, use the aero preview too where you see the whole window? Chances are if you're advanced enough to go around messing up the windows 7 taskbar trying to revive the XP glory years you probably know what order your windows are in anyway and don't really need the preview or name that much anyway past a slight reminder.

First, I never mentioned XP since I moved to Vista immediately after launch. It's not one version of windows versus another, it's simply a matter of what works best for a given usage characteristic.

^^Yup. You don't just get a thumbnail, when you mouse over the thumbnail, that specific window fades into full view.

Mousing over the thumbnails takes longer than glancing at the thumbnails which takes longer than simply glancing at the taskbar. (The reason it wasn't mentioned in the first place.) Next time try to skip the trolling with stupid assumptions.

Thanks

 

[blackhand1001]

im missing something.
what's the difference between having the icons as a shortcut in a quick launch toolbar, vs pinning a shortcut to the taskbar?

even with the "use small icons", i can fit more icons/shortcuts in a smaller space with quick launch toolbar than i can with pinning shortcuts to the taskbar.

If you get all the way across the taskbar they squish closer together.

 

[stop!theradio]

Mousing over the thumbnails takes longer than glancing at the thumbnails which takes longer than simply glancing at the taskbar. (The reason it wasn't mentioned in the first place.) Next time try to skip the trolling with stupid assumptions.

Thanks

It takes less than a SECOND from mousing over the icon to the point of an entire thumbnail's window to fade into view. I don't like the old method of having many different documents open out of order in the taskbar. The thing I like about the new system is that there is one icon for each program. I see the notepad icon so I know for a fact all of my documents that are running on notepad will be in there. It just seems more organized that way.

You don't HAVE to like the new system, but when you're using the (lame) excuse that "it takes longer", it makes your point seem pretty much like BS. I mean, seriously, on a time-scale of fractions of seconds to 1 second, "taking longer" is a moot point. I feel that time is saved since I know a specific document will be in a specific programs stack. I spend less time looking all over the taskbar for something. It's a mental thing, but having all of my open documents on the taskbar just makes things feel cluttered and difficult to navigate through. In the new system, it's essentially the same thing, but since things are grouped I feel less cluttered and more able to navigate.

EDIT: one of my favorite things about the new system is that when I click on Firefox to use it, another icon isn't added to the taskbar. It's like a dock in a way, programs in use are highlighted, and become un-highlighted when you close them. Some people get confused by it, but it's a very welcome addition, IMO.

 

[brom42]

The biggest advantage to the new taskbar is the fact it works great on the side. With widescreen monitors, it is so much better to have the taskbar on the side than the bottom or top.

 

[Belgain Roffles]

I don't like the old method of having many different documents open out of order in the taskbar. The thing I like about the new system is that there is one icon for each program. I see the notepad icon so I know for a fact all of my documents that are running on notepad will be in there. It just seems more organized that way.

Documents still order themselves by program even with ungrouped icons, so all instances of excel stay next to eachother.

It takes less than a SECOND from mousing over the icon to the point of an entire thumbnail's window to fade into view. You don't HAVE to like the new system, but when you're using the (lame) excuse that "it takes longer", it makes your point seem pretty much like BS. I mean, seriously, on a time-scale of fractions of seconds to 1 second, "taking longer" is a moot point. I feel that time is saved since I know a specific document will be in a specific programs stack. I spend less time looking all over the taskbar for something. It's a mental thing, but having all of my open documents on the taskbar just makes things feel cluttered and difficult to navigate through. In the new system, it's essentially the same thing, but since things are grouped I feel less cluttered and more able to navigate.

Who are you to be the person who determines how much a given amount of time is worth? I also like how your argument is essentially the same as the difference between using a SSD with a JMicron controller and a comparable one with an Indilinx one. No matter how small the interruption and wait, it's still annoying and avoiding dealing with such when provided an alternative of not doing so is a no-brainer.

Secondly, the "less than one second" is also wrong in many cases (especially for instance on netbooks) and I would say it is also wrong (not by much) on the desktop in my sig especially if you're mousing over to bring the thumbnails up and then scanning them to find the one you want.

*First sentence of yours seemed to make more sense here.

EDIT: one of my favorite things about the new system is that when I click on Firefox to use it, another icon isn't added to the taskbar. It's like a dock in a way, programs in use are highlighted, and become un-highlighted when you close them. Some people get confused by it, but it's a very welcome addition, IMO.

As I said above, I like it as well until more than one instance of a program is running.