How do I get Win7 to use the taskbar like in XP?

This has probably been asked before but I couldn't find it here or on Google.

If I have two conversations in Messenger, I'd like windows to display two boxes on my taskbar, like it used to be.

Now there is a large part of the taskbar unused. How can I change it?

 

I don't think you can

 

Taskbar properties > Taskbar buttons: Combine when taskbar is full.

Works for everything else, I don't use Messenger though so I have no idea if it works for that.

 

Right Click > Properties > Taskbar Buttons: (dropdown) > Combine When Full or Never Combine.

 

i got used to it. and i'm the biggest hater of that design in here..

maybe try it for a while before quickly changing it? it took me till now (since the first beta) to accept and use it..

 

Ah great that works. Thanks.

I don't want to get used to it. Normally I had to click once, in the Win7 style I had to hover and then click. too much hassle.

 

i know your argument. as i said, it took me nearly a year to get used to it and the argument still stands

 

I tend to disable any 'feature' that makes me work slower.

What's the benefit in this new setup?

 

don't ask me. i just said i got used to it and somehow started to like it.

but just from logic, yes, i hate it

others (including microsoft) might explain how such dock-style things are useful. i can just say that, once getting used to it, i somehow like it. why, i can't.. no clue..

but worth trying for a while it is. it's the new default, so some getting used to it is useful for when you sit at another pc, for working on someting, or trying to help, or what ever. edit: and if, for nothing else, there's always that rule "know your enemy"

 

Same here, i hated it but i got used to it..

Anyway, if you wanna make your taskbar behave pretty much exactly like vista/xp, use this tool:

http://rammichael.com/?proj=29

 

I never thought I'd see people trying to make their Windows 7 more like Vista, lol.

 

Why not?
10char

 

occasionally, "change is good" in that it compels the mind to adapt to new situations and stimuli.

The changes that msft has made in their gui since XP are so small/incremental that (seriously) only a moron couldn't figure them out and adapt.

Having said that, it is maddening that msft has a penchant for changing things that have in the past worked perfect well.

But wailing at msft for those changes instead of taking the 15 minutes needed to figure them out and moving on is a waste of time.

 

And here's the GREATEST tweak for Win7: Get your quick launch back!!!

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


I did this and the "never combine" option and I'm lovin' 7!

 

??? Windows 7 impliments the "quick-launch toolbar" by default, but instead of a toolbar, it's the entire taskbar. Adding another quick-launch toolbar is completely unnecessary and redundant.

 

well, and all the work put since years into getting rid of the quicklaunch and replacing it with something useable got killed with such a tiny tweak

and somewhere on redmond, a silent scream went trough the whole buildings, about the fear, someone re-enabled that ridiculous design failure again..


hint: pin to taskbar, and quicklaunch has 0 use anymore

 

Quickaunch is very useful.
Your key programmes, in a little corner, easily accessible.

And the few times I log onto my old laptop which acts as a server with Win7 professional it drives me up a wall - same icon for opening a new window in Internet explorer and existing open ones...

Maybe another reason why I was lazy and stayed with Vista on my Vaio it works, does the job, and at its core is pretty much the same as Win7

 

Yes, change is good, IF the change is toward something better, not toward something worse!!! And yes, Microsoft's designers are maddening when they change or delete functions that work extremely well. I'm very grateful for those of you who are smart enough to come up with tweaks to restore the old functions we want to keep, and who are nice enough to share them with all of us!!!

 

Thank you so much for posting this link! I hated how when I opened up, for example, a browser that the Windows 7 "quick launch" button turned into the browser window

 

this contradicts itself.

read up on fitts law and how quicklaunch is the worst ui component existing.

it definitely needs some get-used-to, as you know it took me long myself. but i thought "lets force myself into the new default.. lets force myself to get used to it".

now i like it, and there is no reason to go back for me anymore.

so i suggest it to anyone ing about it. GET USED TO IT

it takes time. it took time for me, too.

 

I think you once mentioned it, the larger it is, the easier it is to click it...
I can't see a problem with it, but maybe its also because I view excessively large symbols as an insult - I'm not blind.
(Same way I dislike size 12 font (Times New Roman, Arial) - I'm not blind!)

And the taskbar ... maybe I should hope they hurry with Win8 and bring back "the old one" - my Vaio should last me at least another 2 years or more
(And I can't be bothered to put WIn7 on it)

 

it's not about blindness, but about TARGETING it with the mouse.

we're talking about hitting a 24x24 pixel region on a fullhd screen in my case. that would mean i have to hit 1/3600 of the screen exactly.

 

I have a 1280*800 screen - 13,3"

 

yes. that makes the symbols comparably bigger, obviously.

still, they are the smallest target that you can have need to hit (same size as the tray icons actually).

both completely suck.

and if you now say startmenu/clock/close-button are the same/similar size, then you need to read up fitts law again. because they are, in fitts terms, of infinite size. in 2 of the possible 4 directions.

 

Well, I have plenty of folders with small icons (because larger ones mean I can't find my way around them, I have my start menu entries on small too.

I don't care about any "laws" - and its not a "Law" its an observation that is supported by statistics

I'm also thinking, my mouse isn't particularly fast...

 

no. it's a law. dude. it's THE LAW.

use your head. it's logical.

it doesn't affect you much, but it doesn't change it.

it's like gravity. it exist everywhere. but that doesn't mean it's everywhere important.

do a simple test: put your mouse to the top right, so you could close a window. imagine having closed a window. next task is to start another app, right? big chance for it.

now try to hit as fast as possible the startmenu. what will you do? you will swipe your mouse much FURTHER than the actual startbutton, as it will stop there anyways.

so you can do very fast without much targeting click the button (it will automatically target into the corner anyways.. unimportant if you hit left or bottom first, it will slide a long the edge till to the corner.

you can hit the startbutton in less than half a second. less than a quarter, actually. without big concentration or work.

now try to hit your quicklaunch button to start an app in there, with the SAME speed.

hint: you won't.

 

I suppose yes... but...

I always look at what I click - so while I can hit the startmenu faster, I won't, as I would first look where my mouse is.

 

well, i look, too. and still hit faster as it just goes faster there.

it's EASIER TO TARGET. even while looking.

AND you can be SURE that you hit it. unlike quicklaunch, which you just have to re-focus.

anyways. fits law is about ease of use, and thus about speed of use, too. for people that use the system slow anyways, there is not much change, then.

 

for english speaking people:

http://particletree.com/features/visualizing-fittss-law/




http://www.braekling.de/2009/10/31/fitts-law-buttons-optimal-einsetzen/

 

OK... but "empirical data" = experimental
I'm a maths student, I don't take data as proof

And you know I'm reasonably change resistant... cough...

And PS: My English is possibly better than my German

 

the parts with the screen edges are NOT empirical data.

start from "Physical vs Virtual Pointing"

 

A couple of reasons why "always combine" is not that great. While surfing some pop-ups can hide easily behind that icon on the taskbar, pop-ups including "save file". It's the first useless feature that I found and changed in Windows7. NO i don't want them hidden, I wanna be the eye in the sky when it comes down to active tasks. I don't need some server to tell me that I'm already downloading that file when I'm not, just because the "Save file" pop-up window is packed somewhere in the stack under an icon with no text next to it. It's not practical it's like combining icons on the desktop,one behind the other one cause you want a clean looking desktop.

The quick launch mod is great... pin-ing it up to the taskbar adds dividers and spaces out the icons more than necessary, quick launch bar keeps everything bunched up.

 

I don't see how people can compare Win7's default interface at all to the quick launch.

I like the quick launch because if I want to open any program I have there, particularly a new browser window, that program is one click away.

With win7's new "pin-terface" (bad pun ) you have to right click on the icon and an ungodly long menu pops up.

The new interface is nothing like the old, and the old way just works better for me.

 

All you have to do is middle click. That's pretty much becoming the default for "create another one" ever since tabbed browsing started.

I agree that "always combine" is not necessarily a good thing, since you can't see when you have 2 or more of one window open, and can't switch between them (as) easily, but the quicklaunch toolbar has been completely replaced by the "pin" system.

 

First of all, it is not the law, it is a theoretical postulation. One that you have selected to buttress your position.

There are additional factors at work. For example, muscle memory.

Then take the example of someone who works almost exclusivley over RDP on servers. There are certain tasks that are common and a quicklaunch bar configured for the specific server role is quite a bit more efficient. With RDP, and additional factor comes into play. Waiting for the start menu to appear or navigating the start menu once it has appeared can be eliminated using quicklaunch.

With kvm over ip, it is even more useful because movements are even slower and synchronisation of the mouse is less exact.

So, blindly saying that something is the law, and that something is logical does not mean that something is always right.

There is no one true right way. Not even in religion.

 

+1 rep

Not to be a jerk, but I would hope this forum has some rules against bringing up religion. This can take the whole thread to a different direction....

 

Mentioning the word religion doesn't mean it is a friggin religious thread, nor is it a religious topic.

The new taskbar just combine certain features people have always asked for. When programs open, the order of open windows on the taskbar can be customized.

 

But it does offend certain people and if those people become vocal of their disagreement of that then the topic will go down south fast. I go to many different forums and most have zero-tolerance policies.

 

Anyway, back on topic.

I enjoy the new task bar. I feel less cluttered, and going to the start menu less is always nice.

 

Why get used to it when it's quicker just to enable the old behaviour and save myself time overall?

I'm beginning to think if Microsoft offered you a slap to the face you'd accept it with a smile.

 

We've turned from a troubleshooting forum into a friggin political propaganda police.

Seriously though. Rather than bashing people's habits, we need to provide solutions.

 

The solution was provided within a couple posts though, then the Microsoft fanboy brigade waded in to tell everybody how they should learn to use the new taskbar instead.