Window7 taskbar: Most Interesting Part of the New OS?

The most interesting feature about the new OS is the taskbar. But it's also the most cloaked in mystery, as it was not part of the pre-beta Windows 7 software handed out to attendees at Microsoft's PDC (Professional Developers Conference) last month.

 

More taskbar details emerged late last week on Microsoft's Engineering Windows 7 blog. Despite some criticism that the Windows 7 taskbar looks too visually similar to the Mac OS X dock, Microsoft does seem to be trying to break new ground with the look, feel, and functionality of the Windows 7 taskbar.

Unified quick launch and taskband

Microsoft has merged Quick Launch and the taskband into a big, happy launching and switching family. Buttons in the Quick Launch bar that open a program turn into a window switcher when launched.

This may not be a new concept, but Microsoft says that the difference with Windows 7 is that no matter how many, say, IE browsers you have open, and whether or not they are minimized or maximized, there will only be a single representation of IE on the taskbar. This is the default setting and you have the freedom to have as many buttons as you want.

Interactive, grouped tumbnails

The Windows Vista taskbar shows corresponding thumbnails when you mouse over a taskbar button, but in Windows 7, these thumbnails are clickable, allowing you to open, close, or switch between windows right from the thumbnails. Also, each thumbnail looks like a mini version of the window it is representing, be it a Web browser, Word document, or PowerPoint application.

Aero peek

The functionality of Vista's Aero graphical interface has been extended. The "Aero Peek" feature in Windows 7 should come in handy when your thumbnails are e-mails or Word documents with text and details that are too small to recognize. Why squint if you don't have to?

Aero Peek displays the actual, full-size window on the desktop of the thumbnail you are hovering over. Not only that, but all other windows open on the desktop become transparent-or turn into "glass sheets" to use Microsoft lingo -- so you can focus quickly on the window you want. 

Jump list

The advantage of Jump Lists, according to Microsoft: You don't need to start a program to quickly launch a file or access a task; you just right-click on a button. Also, the files in the Jump List don't take up space on the taskbar; they are automatically organized by their respective program in a list.

By default, the Jump List contains a program's shortcut, the ability to toggle pinning, the ability to close one or all windows and a program's recently used files. If you want to keep a specific file or document around, you can pin it to the Jump List.