Internet Explorer 8’s Jump List, for example, lets you open the browser and load a fresh tab, initiate an InPrivate stealth browsing session, or go directly to any of eight frequently visited Web pages. These menus resemble the context-sensitive ones you get when you right-click within various Windows applications, except that you don’t have to be inside an app to use them. (The process would be even simpler if the thumbnails were larger and easier to decipher.)Īlso new in Windows 7’s Taskbar is a feature called Jump Lists. Windows 7’s version of this feature is slicker and more efficient: Hover the pointer on an icon, and thumbnails of the app’s windows glide into position above the Taskbar, so you can quickly find the one you’re looking for. But when you have multiple windows open, you see only one preview at a time. In Windows Vista, hovering the mouse pointer over an application’s Taskbar icon produces a thumbnail window view known as a Live Preview. To indicate that a particular application on the Taskbar is running, Windows draws a subtle box around its icon–so subtle, in fact, that figuring out whether the app is running can take a moment, especially if its icon sits between two icons for running apps. You can also organize icons in the Taskbar by moving them to new positions. Drag an app’s icon from the Start menu or desktop to the Taskbar, and Windows will pin it there, so you can launch the program without rummaging around in the Start menu. Windows 7 eliminates Quick Launch and folds its capabilities into the Taskbar. In the past, you could get one-click access to programs by dragging their icons to the Quick Launch toolbar. If you don’t like it, you can shrink the icons and/or bring the labels back.

If you can keep the icons straight, the new design painlessly reduces Taskbar clutter. Windows 7’s revamped Taskbar introduces several new features and gives users much more control over how it looks.The new Taskbar replaces the old small icons and text labels for running apps with larger, unlabeled icons.

Vista gave the Start menu a welcome redesign in Windows 7, the Taskbar and the System Tray get a thorough makeover.

The Windows experience occurs mainly in its Taskbar–especially in the Start menu and System Tray.

Windows 7 launching date