Taskbar Shuffle

The personal webspace of James Dunn

Windows gives users a huge amount of freedom in the way they want to view all of the items on their desktop. Vista has taken this further by allowing windows to become semi-transparent, as well as the new 'Flip 3D' which previews the entire screen before you switch to it.

Whatever you think about these features, in my opinion there has always been something missing to the basic functionality - the ability to move items around on the taskbar. Every window on the screen has a corresponding button in the taskbar, but these are static and do not allow you to rearrange their order. I like having my email client on the left, any tools (such as Photoshop and Illustrator) in the middle, and my web browsers used for testing on the right. I find that it reduces the speed at which I can get things done if this isn't the case, as well as find it extremely annoying. Normally I would open the applications in the order I want them to be in on the taskbar, but this doesn't help if something crashes, or I change the applications that I am working with. Enter Taskbar Shuffle.

This tiny free app sits in the background and provides the functionality that Microsoft should have done years ago. In fact it integrates so seamlessly that I don't even notice it's there. It provides the ability to be able to drag and drop taskbar buttons to whichever location I choose, instantaneously allowing me to create the setup I want. The application itself does not have many configuration options (which I like), but allows you to load it at start up, display or not display a system tray icon, as well as automatically organise buttons in various ways if you choose.

Whether all of this is it entirely unnecessary to mainstream users is up to the individual, but in my mind, it's invaluable. You can try it out free here.

Posted on November 19, 2007 17:41 | Add Comment →