Windows 7: Measuring the "superbar"

(2 replies) #1 thealexweb on 05 Jan 2009 - 13:28

I don't think it looks a lot bigger, just a bit. Doesn't really bother me.

#1.1 boho on 06 Jan 2009 - 09:25

thealexweb said,

I don't think it looks a lot bigger, just a bit. Doesn't really bother me.

Gee wiz, is this the best they can do, and Neowin can report about?

Windows 7 = Windows Vista... sounds like another big... FAIL

#1.2 +dead.cell on 06 Jan 2009 - 10:56

About as much fail as posting a comment on a news piece you don't care about.

(9 replies) #2 +ispamforfood on 05 Jan 2009 - 13:40

The only thing that bugs me about the superbar is...... Why o why would they put the show desktop button on the extreme RIGHT of the bar? its very inconvenient there.

#2.1 kupang on 05 Jan 2009 - 13:44

how about Windows key+D ..

#2.2 flash_flicker on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:13

kupang said,

how about Windows key+D ..

Ya that works, But when you are on a mousing spree[mmm sometimes]....you dont really care about the keyboard shorcuts.......and really right now it is just too merged up with the superbar and that too in the right most corner....where you can very easily misclick on the Time and Date Settings....

#2.3 eth3l on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:21

win+M works better. I dont think it available in XP though. It just minimizes all applications.

#2.4 Glassed Silver on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:58

eth3l said,

win+M works better. I dont think it available in XP though. It just minimizes all applications.

it is.

#2.5 Relativity_17 on 05 Jan 2009 - 15:12

The only thing that bugs me about the superbar is...... Why o why would they put the show desktop button on the extreme RIGHT of the bar? its very inconvenient there.

No, it isn't. Need to show the desktop? Flick to the right bottom corner of the screen and click. No real aiming required, since the pointer motion is constrained in that corner. It takes more work to aim for a specific icon in the Quicklaunch toolbar, because you can't just flick and blindly click.

#2.6 flash_flicker on 05 Jan 2009 - 15:36

Relativity_17 said,

No, it isn't. Need to show the desktop? Flick to the right bottom corner of the screen and click. No real aiming required, since the pointer motion is constrained in that corner. It takes more work to aim for a specific icon in the Quicklaunch toolbar, because you can't just flick and blindly click.

Very well noticed here actually !! Agree with you +1

#2.7 +Ironman273 on 05 Jan 2009 - 15:49

It's a matter of getting used to it. It actually seems pretty simple to slide your mouse to the bottom right all the way instead of aiming for a specific icon. I bet if it was always on the bottom right and they changed it to an icon on the superbar the outcry would be much worse.

#2.8 theyarecomingforyou on 05 Jan 2009 - 17:03

It's actually MUCH more convenient than the show desktop button ever was. In fact in Vista / XP I always delete it immediately because I prefer the keyboard shortcut - with Win7 that has changed.

#2.9 ikyouCrow on 06 Jan 2009 - 00:24

they put it in the lower-right corner so that you can get to it super easy.
remember Fitts' Law.
oh! Show Desktop - Winkey+D; Aero Peek - Winkey+Spacebar

#3 flash_flicker on 05 Jan 2009 - 13:47

The only thing that bugs me about the superbar is...... Why o why would they put the show desktop button on the extreme RIGHT of the bar? its very inconvenient there.

+1

(5 replies) #4 este on 05 Jan 2009 - 13:47

Always a fan of Quick Launch.... but here it seems to get lost in the mix...

#4.1 shockz on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:09

este said,

Always a fan of Quick Launch.... but here it seems to get lost in the mix...

You can dock shortcuts to the taskbar now. So having quick launch now would be redundant.

#4.2 ZeroHour on 05 Jan 2009 - 15:07

shockz said,

You can dock shortcuts to the taskbar now. So having quick launch now would be redundant.

Or well to put it another way its like a more dynamic quicklaunch ;0)

#4.3 este on 05 Jan 2009 - 16:09

shockz said,

You can dock shortcuts to the taskbar now. So having quick launch now would be redundant.

Docking shortcuts to the taskbar is essentially the same thing as Quick Launch.

#4.4 shockz on 05 Jan 2009 - 20:02

este said,

Docking shortcuts to the taskbar is essentially the same thing as Quick Launch.

Exactly... so why would you want quick lanuch still?

#4.5 este on 06 Jan 2009 - 16:27

shockz said,

Exactly... so why would you want quick lanuch still?

I got a whole bunch of shortcuts in my quick launch bar... if this works in a similar fashion (first 3 displayed then click to view rest) then I wouldnt mind

But I do need to play around with this and check it out.

#5 devHead on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:14

I've loved the Quick Launch too, but I tried this out for a couple of weeks and found I was able to get used to the new layout of the bar. The one thing i didn't try to see was whether it's possible to add other 'toolbars' to the superbar, like in in Vista and earlier. It would be nice to still have some kind of that functionality, or to have the ability to place other toolbars on different edges of the screen, like you could in Windows 98, 2000 and XP.

(1 reply) #6 Quick Reply on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:20

hate to say it but looks like the Mac OS X dock in the way that Shortcut icons change their appearance (a square around it) to indicate that that application is now a Running application; and Running applications not already added as a Shortcut icon are simply added to the end of the bar while it's still running. Without having used the Superbar before, that's how I assume it works?

#6.1 cJr. on 06 Jan 2009 - 10:24

Yuo shouldn't just assume how things work and then say it's similar to something else.

The new taskbar is nothing like the Mac OS X dock. Its 'windows management' features are much better and more consistent.

(1 reply) #7 Julius Caro on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:26

I dont like the superbar that much. I love the jumplists though. But the whole grouping thing ... it somehow takes longer for me to get to a msn convo window (even if it's grouped on vista too).

and the whole 'square' thing around to show that the app is open... it's weird, because if you have a closed app between to open apps it kind of looks like that app is also surrounded by an icon. so when I try to go to those windows to close them I end up opening more apps lol

I agree that once you use it it's not that big.

#7.1 spinning_quirK on 05 Jan 2009 - 17:54

Julius Caro said,

so when I try to go to those windows to close them I end up opening more apps lol

#8 eth3l on 05 Jan 2009 - 14:26

I really am not too put off by this design. Back in the day it was necessary to distingush between app shortcuts and running apps but now I think our culture in general can handle mixing the two. The cool thing is in Vista you can make your task bar 40 pixeks I high like that. Just select large icons for the task bar, then drag the height of the task bar down as far as it will go. I have been using Vista like this for a while and look forward to having more dynamic taskbar buttons.

(2 replies) #9 LaXu on 05 Jan 2009 - 16:07

But is it still usable in anything but the bottom or top position? In Vista moving the taskbar to the left or right makes it take too much space and the tray becomes a bit of a mess IMO. I'd like to have the taskbar in that position because all modern widescreen monitors have more horizontal than vertical space.

They should just give us the option to scale the taskbar to any size should we want to.

#9.1 rm20010 on 05 Jan 2009 - 16:41

It's definitely usable on the sides. Without labels, taskbar buttons don't get ridiculously squashed.

By default you'll see at the max about 4 to 6 tray icons; any others get pushed to the popup tray basket.

#9.2 theyarecomingforyou on 05 Jan 2009 - 17:04

Exactly. It's now actually practical to have the taskbar at the side of the screen.

#10 theyarecomingforyou on 05 Jan 2009 - 17:09

The biggest criticism I have is that the Start Button doesn't look as attractive visually as Vista. In small icons mode it loses the bevel and gets lost. In full mode it also gets lost, though it doesn't look quite as bad. Other than that I love the new taskbar / superbar.

(2 replies) #11 Digix on 05 Jan 2009 - 17:51

The only real grudge is why 3 things that do the same an no option to not use one. Personally I've never used quick launch nor liked it since that's essentially what start menu or desktop shortcuts are for. I just hope I can have choice of traditional functioning taskbar back.

#11.1 ikyouCrow on 06 Jan 2009 - 00:29

you could just as easily not dock anything to the taskbar so you would only see an application there if it's running.

#11.2 este on 06 Jan 2009 - 16:32

I personally do not like a cluttered desktop, and really dont click into the Start menu unless I have to. I put my most important programs into my quick launch bar (ie, flashfxp, imgburn, etc) because its the easiest method to get to any of these programs, even when desktop is viewable or not. To each his own I suppose...

(1 reply) #12 plastikaa on 05 Jan 2009 - 18:34

Is the "Superbar" super enough to go across multiple monitors? Or will I still have to use an additional program so i can have a task bar on both monitors?

#12.1 basix on 05 Jan 2009 - 23:31

I believe they don't get it....

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2008/09/2...-switching.aspx

(1 reply) #13 coolman330 on 05 Jan 2009 - 19:58

I have reviewed the new taskbar and even though it looks nice and all, is still a bit cumbersome. In Vista, you could bring up your list of open windows and easily go to the one you needed open. but in Win 7, it shows you all the open windows and you have to follow up and over to the open window you desire. Say you have 5 open webistes, you have to hover over the base icon, then go up and over to the window you deisre. If it is all the way over to the end, sometimes I have lost my fix on the list and have to start over again.
Another instance, open explorer, then open messenger, if you look at the explorer page, it hides the messenger window if you have a conversation. Trying to get back to the conversation means you have to hover over base icon, tehn go up and over three windows to the open conversation each time. And if more conversations, it even gets worse.
Like I say, it looks nice, but a bit cumbersome for me.
but can be shut off.
doug

#13.1 ikyouCrow on 06 Jan 2009 - 00:38

you have other options to handle the buttons. the default is to combine all windows into a single button. you can also set it to never combine so that all you'd need to do is click on the desired window.
here's how:
right-click Taskbar -> "Properties" -> "Taskbar buttons" -> "Combine when taskbar is full".
while you're at it, check the "Use small icons" option for a Vista-sized taskbar.

(2 replies) #14 ThePitt on 05 Jan 2009 - 23:45

"WOW, with this superbar we will make BILLIONS"... Keep dreaming m$...

#14.1 +Chrono951 on 06 Jan 2009 - 02:34

People complained that Microsoft was not trying anything new. Now, when they do try to change something, you have people like you complaining. Well done.

#14.2 basix on 06 Jan 2009 - 02:57

And still they would make billions without it.

win : win

#15 SoulEata on 06 Jan 2009 - 06:45

Can I still use Windows Classic mode? I hate this crap.

#16 badblood on 06 Jan 2009 - 08:19

I'm still getting used to the new taskbar, but it's not as bad as I first thought it was when the demo's and screenshots were made available.
Overall, 7 is amazingly stable even for a Beta, and I'm more than happy with the changes to the taskbar and other interface changes.

#17 Lare2 on 06 Jan 2009 - 09:57

A whole article just to measure pixels on a taskbar.

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