Freedom of the Windows Taskbar: send it to the right


I like Windows because of the freedom I have by using it – the freedom to enjoy all this great freeware, a community of hundreds of millions of people around the world exchanging knowledge, tips, and programs, and the choices available at the OS level itself. One of these choices is taskbar placement on any of the four sides of the screen, even the option to make it disappear completely in favor of a crystal clear desktop.

Top was never an option for me, since the top side dominates vision and I want it clean. At the bottom the taskbar has a discreet appearance, however, now that most monitors feature a wide format, 16:9, or 16:10, there is a lot of space at the sides available, less at the center, so that placing the taskbar at the left or at the right side of the screen makes now good sense, setting your vertical space absolutely free, maximizing it with no bars at the top or bottom.

I guess people who read right to left may prefer the taskbar at the left. The secret here is that the side where one starts reading from dominates vision. If you find it difficult to read at the opposite side, perhaps you need to put the taskbar at your ‘good’ side.

Thus I have the taskbar at a side, with large icons (there is a lot of space, no reason to use small icons), and I can still use a toggle-hotkey to make it disappear completely and instantly whenever I want, and bring it up again, with Taskbar Control. This is especially useful when you are not working and you’d like to enjoy your wallpaper without a taskbar anywhere.

If you don’t know how to move it to a side, it’s easy; just right-click on some empty space of your taskbar, select “Properties”, and play with the “Taskbar location on screen” button. You can also unlock it and then drag and drop it instantly wherever you want.