Windows 7 Like Taskbar In Windows XP

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 2, 2009
Updated • Jun 5, 2014
Software, Windows 7, Windows software
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13

You may have heard about the improvements that Microsoft has made to the taskbar in the Windows 7 operating system. The company has improved it quite a bit which in turn changes the functionality of it significantly as well.

One of the changes is that Windows 7 displays icons in the taskbar instead of folder names which looks similar to how items were displayed in the operating system's quick launch bar.

The advantage of this interface change is that it is possible to squeeze additional icons on the taskbar, making room for some of the new features that are introduced in the operating system.

The new feature may take some getting used to time though as you do not see names of folders or programs automatically anymore on the taskbar. While you get the name when you hover the mouse over it, it is faster to learn to associate the icons with the programs.

Windows 7 Taskbar Iconizer is a implementation of that feature for Windows XP. It basically changes the way the folders and programs are displayed in the Windows Taskbar from their default view to a view where only icons are displayed. The program does that only on vertical taskbars. If you have customized the position of the Windows Taskbar to be on the left or right side of the desktop then you will not see a difference.

As you can see on the screenshot above, it provides more room for icons on the taskbar, which may be especially useful on systems where lots of programs are open at all times.

The only real gain is that additional folders and programs fit into the taskbar. Items are automatically grouped which adds even more space to it, but may be something that Windows XP users may need to get used to first.

The software program is portable and a restart is required after making the changes. The same program has to be used to revert the changes again.

Update: We have replaced the original link pointing to Deviant Art as the page is no longer available on the site. It is now pointing to our friend's site Tweaking with Vishal.

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Iconizer
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Windows
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Comments

  1. alin said on April 27, 2011 at 11:49 am
    Reply

    Not sure it’s what nightflyer & womble were talking about, but I found some registry hack here: http://www.askvg.com/get-windows-7-iconized-icon-only-taskbar-feature-in-windows-xp-and-vista/
    I didn’t tried it yet.

  2. TxDot said on February 10, 2010 at 2:20 pm
    Reply

    @nightflyer & @womble – looked on Kelly’s Corner but didn’t find the registry hack you refer to. Care to give a little more information so I can find it?

  3. garbanzo said on January 2, 2009 at 7:48 pm
    Reply

    nice find, i’ll try it out.

    win7’s new taskbar is a real pleasure to use, it’s a shame this is just a visual approximation…

  4. Womble said on January 2, 2009 at 7:33 pm
    Reply

    @nightflyer

    My first impression too!

    If you want to make life easier for beginners why not just publish the registry script?

    Maybe the coders just geting his feet wet here? Heck I remember my first program was a desktop clock, I’m still no pro but I really think you have to weigh up the validity of what your doing if it’s for anything more than practice.

  5. NightFlyer said on January 2, 2009 at 5:18 pm
    Reply

    I’m surprised to see software to do this when in fact it’s a simple registry hack that has been about for at least a couple of years at Kellys Corner.

    1. Martin said on January 2, 2009 at 6:25 pm
      Reply

      That’s probably largely caused by the kinda “messy” system of Kelly’s Corner. A fantastic site with a horrible layout and usability.

  6. Dotan Cohen said on January 2, 2009 at 2:24 pm
    Reply

    This feature is already being work on in KDE:
    http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=168855

    In fact, this is the first Windows 7 screenshot that I have seen. It looks _exactly_ like KDE 4, really, I thought that was a KDE screenshot.

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