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In computing, the taskbar is a term for the application desktop bar which is used to launch and monitor applications in Microsoft Windows 95 and later operating systems. Other desktop environments also feature similar interface elements.
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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 Internet Explorer 4, contains shortcuts to applications. Windows provides default entries, such as Internet Explorer, and the user or third-party software may add any further shortcuts that they choose. A single click on the application's icon in this area launches the application. This section may not always be present: for example it is absent by default in Windows XP, 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 windows 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. There are more than one way to add an application icon to the system tray area using Win32 API or some ActiveX Controls, such as ASTC ActiveX Control that will conveniently add an application icon to the system tray area.
Other toolbars may be added to the taskbar, and it can also be hidden, placed on top of other applications, or moved to the side of the screen.
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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 Kicker 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.
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Notes
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See also
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