One of the most visible changes in Windows 7 is the new *Dock style* taskbar which instead of showing buttons actually shows icons. With all the application windows combined into a single button, I’m pretty sure that the first question most people will be asking is – How do I turn it off?
This step by step how to guide will show you.
Please note that I am a fan of the new style and I’m not for a second suggesting you should go backwards, I think you should give it a go…. But we are about giving people options – so, here goes.
For those that haven’t seen the Windows 7 beta, this is what the new taskbar looks like:
Changing the Windows 7 Taskbar to XP/Vista Style
To change back to the older style, the first thing you’ll need to do is right-click on any open area of the taskbar and choose Properties from the menu.
From the Taskbar buttons drop-down menu, choose “Never combine”, which will make every window show up as a separate button on the taskbar, or you could choose “Combine when taskbar is full”, which does just like it says.
Now you should see the buttons show up with text labels like you are probably used to… but in the Windows 7 style.
If you want it to look more like Windows Vista chose the “Use small icons” checkbox in the properties screen this will cause the task bar to shrink down just like Vista
The only problem is that the *pinned* icons are still sitting on the taskbar, which isn’t the same as Vista or XP, but you can easily remove all of them by right-clicking and choosing *Unpin this programme from taskbar*.
Now the taskbar is looking and working similar to Windows Vista
If you wanted to be really different, you can choose the “Windows Classic” theme under the Desktop Personalise section… but that would be going a little too far backwards
Do to at least give the new Windows 7 taskbar a try… while it might take a little time getting used to it, it really is a nice move forward. Call computer repairs gurus at Mobile Geeks if you would like to get the explanation from a human 🙂
Over and out
Geeks IQ
