The psychology of the Windows 7 taskbar

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

One of the new features in Windows 7 that barely ever warrants a mention these days is the revamped taskbar.

This is the first version of Windows that not only allows you to ‘pin’ your favourite applications/folders directly to the taskbar, but also to place them in whichever order you choose (at least, without downloading Tweak UI).

What effect has the new taskbar had on the way we interact with the Windows desktop? Have people stopped piling application shortcuts on to the desktop? Are taskbars overflowing with icons? Or is the ‘pin to taskbar’ feature simply ignored?

A survey of the desktops of the PC Pro team reveals it’s a combination of all three, with different members of the team deploying different taskbar tactics. Here are the three different types of taskbar psychology deployed in the PC Pro office.

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How to make the Windows 7 taskbar better in an instant

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I’m a huge fan of the new Windows 7 taskbar. From Jumplists, to pinning icons to the taskbar, to the long-overdue option to juggle icons into whatever order you wish, it makes my working day precisely 62% easier.

However, there is one thing I’m not so keen on: the habit of piling multiple windows from the same application behind one another like a deck of cards, like so:

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In praise of jumplists (and how to use them)

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

I’ve already written heady words of praise about Windows 7’s taskbar, but as “Paul” commented to that original blog I didn’t touch upon jumplists. And they are yet another reason why this OS will make your life easier when it eventually gets the full release.

The simplest way to access jumplists is by right-clicking on the relevant program icon on the taskbar. You’ll be offered a few options, such as unpinning the icon from the taskbar, but the real power comes in the list of recently accessed documents which also appear. (more…)

How to use the Windows 7 taskbar

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

You won’t see too many headlines about it, but one of the big changes between Windows Vista and Windows 7 is the taskbar.

Above, I’ve taken a grab of the three different ways it’s looked over the last eight years – from Windows XP at the top through Vista in the middle and Windows 7 at the bottom.

Compared to Vista, at first glance it may seem like Microsoft has simply made the quick launch icons larger, as you might expect with an OS that’s designed to be touch-friendly. In fact, the changes go a little deeper, and although in some ways they’re better they’re also, in other ways, a little worse. (more…)

10 tips for Windows 7 beta testers

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Microsoft is releasing Windows 7 to 2.5 million beta testers today. Here are ten tips for those who are preparing to take the plunge:

1. Back-up your system

Whilst we’ve been mightily impressed with the stability of Windows 7 ever since the pre-beta launch, this remains a work in progress. If you’re even considering installing Windows 7 on a mission-critical system, make sure you take a full back-up first, so that you’ve got a fall back if it all goes horribly wonky.

2. Take note of your settings and software keys               

If you’re making a fresh install of Windows 7, rather than upgrading a previous OS, make a note of all your crucial settings  - such as your wireless network key and Outlook configuration –  so that you can get online immediately. Also make sure you can lay your hands on keys for any essential software that you’ll need to re-install in Windows 7.

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Windows 7: the user interface

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

The most obvious change to Windows 7 is the revamped Windows desktop. The Taskbar has been completely redesigned, with the text descriptions of open windows replaced with large icons of the open applications. It’s an idea that has clearly gleaned more than a little inspiration from the Mac OS X Dock, but it goes further than the Apple concept.

Right click on an application’s icon – or swipe a finger upwards from it if you’re using the new touchscreen controls – and a “jumplist” opens. The jumplist provides a list of recent documents accessed in Word, for example, or recent sites visited in Internet Explorer, allowing you to open them with a single click. The jumplists can also be populated with commands, such as selecting a playlist from Windows Media Player. Microsoft has published a new API that will allow software makers to tailor the jumplists to their applications, and this has the potential to become a great timesaver.

The new Taskbar also comes into play when you plug a digital camera, MP3 player, or other peripheral into the PC. Instead of the old Autoplay prompt, a digital camera icon will show in the Taskbar. From here you can select options to import photos into editing software, for example, or kickstart a slideshow of your pictures.

As well as the thumbnail previews of tabs that were first introduced in Windows Vista, the new Taskbar provides full-screen previews when you hover over the thumbnail preview with the mouse. This feature could be pretty handy for a quick glance at an email, whilst you enter data into a web form for example, although it doesn’t really save much time compared to simply switching Windows if you’re proficient with keyboard shortcuts. More useful is the option to simply drag programs from the Start menu straight on to the Taskbar.

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