Task Bar Article Index for
Task
Website Links For
Taskbar
 

Information About

Task Bar





MICROSOFT WINDOWS

In Windows, the default location for the taskbar is at the bottom of the screen, following Fitts' Law , and from left to right it contains by default the Start menu, '''Quick Launch bar''', '''Taskbar buttons''' and '''Notification area''' (popularly called the '''system tray''').
  • The Start Menu contains commands that can access programs, documents, and settings. These commands include Programs, Documents, Settings, Find, Help, Run, and Shut Down.

  • The Quick Launch bar, introduced with , although it can be enabled.

  • The Windows Shell places a taskbar button on the taskbar whenever an application creates an unowned window: that is, a window that doesn't have a parent and that is created according to normal Windows UI Guidelines . Typically all SDI applications have a single taskbar button for each open window, although Modal Window s may also appear there. Windows XP introduced ''taskbar grouping'', which can group the taskbar buttons of several windows from the same application into a single button. This button pops up a menu listing all the grouped windows when clicked. This keeps the taskbar from being overcrowded when many windows are open at once.

  • The last part of the taskbar is called the notification area or '''system tray'''. It contains mainly status notifications, though some programs, (such as Winamp ), use it for minimized windows. The clock by default appears here, and applications can put icons in the notification area to indicate the status of an operation or to notify the user about an event. For example, an application might put a printer icon in the status area to show that a print job is under way, or a display driver application may provide quick access to various screen resolutions.

  • Other toolbars may be added to the taskbar, and it can also be placed on top or at the window sides.



OTHER DESKTOP ENVIRONMENTS

Windows is not the only operating system with a taskbar: similar bars are present in various Linux desktop environments. Mac OS X 's Dock is also a kind of taskbar.

In various KDE distributions, the taskbar is run by the kpanel program, and consists of two parts: the ''panel'' and the ''taskbar''. The panel is a control bar across the bottom of the screen, which is used to find and launch applications and navigate among windows and desktops. It contains the menu, which is comparable to the Windows start menu; the disk navigator, which allows access to the file system by menus (a similar thing can be done in Windows); and the desktop pager, which changes between desktops. The last item is not possible in Windows by default. As with the Windows 'Quick Launch bar', additional buttons can be added to the KDE panel, to quickly open applications, directories, and URLs.
The second part is the taskbar, which runs across the top of the screen and helps keep track of running applications. This is similar to the 'Taskbar buttons' area of the Windows taskbar.

NOTES