taskbar clutter - back to the virtual desktop GoScreen

[Steven Avery]

Hi,

I like the taskbar, I leave two rows.  It still gets very cluttered. I don't like various solutions like restoring the QuickLaunch.
Also the window situation gets a little difficult.

Virtual Desktops were a big thing, some years ago, now they are more thought of in terms of multi-monitor.

And I noticed one mentioned the other day.

Multi-Tabber
http://multitabber.codeplex.com/

The description reminded me of GoScreen, the one I chose in 2006 and bought a license and they still have a yahoogroups forum.
Andrew Guranov, author.  I chose it partly because it was more native to Windows functions, no weird hooks, quite stable.

The license is lifetime, still good for the latest release (WinSnap is another utility with an excellent lifetime license.)

Loaded it back, and it it seems quite good for my needs.  

The primary desktop is browsers, email, chat skype.
I set up an auxiliary one for documents, PDFs, viewers, etc. (That was really cluttering the taskbar.)
One for utilities.
One for notes programs.
Stuff like that.  
You are not limited, if I am in the primary and need Notezilla or Total Commander, I simply use the start menu.
Probably I can put a program in multiple virtuals.  Lots could be checked out.

GoScreen
http://www.goscreen.info/
Note the good online documentation, how-to-guide.

FYI: Ok, it knocked away my wallpaper at first, took a minute to put it back.
It moved around icons, I put them back with DesktopOK.  I'm not sure if that is an inherent problem.
No mini-problems after the initial install and some playing around.  It might have had something to do with the
drag-and-drop capability you have with their set-up that starts on the left.

The longevity and ongoing support makes GoScreen a bit of a sleeper program.  Maybe Dexpot and
some others are more sophisticated.  GoScreen has some solid utility functions, it is rather a neat program.

Steven

[app103]

The Windows taskbar is a truly awesome thing! Microsoft really messed up when it came to how they have presented the default configuration to the user, all these years.

You don't have to keep the taskbar at the bottom, and you don't have to limit yourself to a row or 2.

You can do something like this, and have all the room you need to organize your shortcuts in a manner that makes the most sense to you.

This is a screenshot from my current Win7 desktop:

taskbar clutter - back to the virtual desktop GoScreen

And this is an annotated screenshot of my previous XP desktop, to explain how it's all arranged (I have been doing this since Win98).

taskbar clutter - back to the virtual desktop GoScreen

[Steven Avery]

Nicely done.  

I'm not sure I will go for more sophistication than the virtual desktops. (At the moment, that improvement is making me happy.)

I do have a question about the system tray or notification area.  It seems like that should have a quick improvement tab that shows you names and whatevers.   It really is more than notifications, it is used by many programs as an alternate taskbar area.  Leading to abundant hovering.

That leads to another question. In Windows 7, can all programs that are in the system tray be pinned to taskbar?  That would be a leveling method, and would work well with my virtual desktop usage. And then maybe just leave a couple of system monitors in the "notification" area.

Steven

[dr_andus]

Not sure if this is along the lines of what you're looking for, but I've cleared up my taskbar by moving stuff to SE-TrayMenu, which lives under a single icon in the system tray, so a very efficient use of space, but allows you access to programs with two clicks.

[app103]

I do have a question about the system tray or notification area. It seems like that should have a quick improvement tab that shows you names and whatevers.   It really is more than notifications, it is used by many programs as an alternate taskbar area.  Leading to abundant hovering.

That leads to another question. In Windows 7, can all programs that are in the system tray be pinned to taskbar?  That would be a leveling method, and would work well with my virtual desktop usage. And then maybe just leave a couple of system monitors in the "notification" area.

-Steven Avery (February 08, 2015, 08:26 AM)

I am using PS Tray Factory. The only icons visible in my tray are the ones that display info or ones that I would need frequent access to. The rest are hidden behind the PS Tray Factory icon, accessible from its menu. I also get to control the order in which the icons are displayed, so their position is uniform and does not change. I can also minimize any application to the tray, and not just those in which the developer decided to add such support. And I can change the icon displayed to one of my own choosing. 

[Steven Avery]

SE Tray-Menu can do the job, and is free.
http://www.se-soft.c...n/Products/TrayMenu/
Has columns but no groups == column titles, apparently you would have to ad-hoc columns of = number of entries.
Some modification .. e.g. set up a different colour for eah column.
Looks like you have to navigate to the executable for setup.. I thought I saw drag-drop, but apparently not.
Ok, you can take from the Start Menu.
Maybe best is alphabetical order, forgetting groups.

Hmmm... close.

Maybe what I am learning is that the sytem tray is redundant, to the start menu and desktop, and simply take
everything out other than actual special notifications.  See if you can bring anything you use a lot to pin to taskbar.
And simply hide everything else.  The whole issue is psychological.

============================================

PS Tray Factory looks similar. they talk of a $25 registration
http://www.pssoftlab...er_screenshots.phtml

Tray Commander - Ardamax
http://www.ardamax.com/tc/
Looks interesting as a $15, the website is hokey, in use by anyone?

Tray Icon Pro - Metaproducts
http://forum.metapro...m/Posts.aspx?topic=5
May not really exist anymore except on a download site, price listed as $0
Maybe I saw a pic somewhere with similar functionality as Captain Tray

Captain Tray - Almeza - $34
http://www.captaintr.../content/view/15/29/
moves form Taskbar to System Tray to Hideboard (no obvious creation of special list icon)

My System Tray Icon
http://www.rtmenu.co...System-Tray-Icon.htm
Some system functions in one button in the tray

================================

DC - Launchbar Commander
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=2578.0
does a lot more, might have these functions embedded.

================================

Steven

[dr_andus]

SE Tray-Menu can do the job, and is free.

Maybe best is single column in alphabetical order.

-Steven Avery (February 08, 2015, 06:18 PM)

Yes, I also use single column, but I use manual order, with most frequently used apps at the bottom, so it takes less time looking for them. 20/80 rule applies in my case, i.e. in 80% of the time I tend to use the bottom 20% of the apps.

[dr_andus]

PS Tray Factory looks similar. they talk of a $25 registration
http://www.pssoftlab...er_screenshots.phtml

-Steven Avery (February 08, 2015, 06:18 PM)

I checked them out in the past and liked what I saw but was put off by the price vis-a-vis what it offers, and that it hasn't been updated for 5 years. It comes to GBP 21.44 in the UK, which is quite a lot. Of course they're entitled to charge whatever they like, but it's putting me off a second time now. At a lower price I would have been game.

[Steven Avery]

SE Tray-Menu has become mildly indispensable.  Really does solve the problem in a minimalist way.  The light bulb icon is easy to find and remember. Nicely done.

Should look at the other programs.

SE-SOFT.COMFree windows software for common everyday tasks
http://www.se-soft.com/

And sent the author a note with the idea of a second menu for the non-shown "notification only" icons that come up when you hit the little pointer on the left and it says "customize".  I put a lot there that I would similarly like to see listed.

I put GoScreen on hiatus for a bit.  Planning a note to the author Andrei Gourianov on a couple of things, or a post in the Yahoogroups forum. I'm not quite groking how it starts up, and where it picks up the remembered setup.  (I have a special shortcut to the data being on the d:/ ),

Steven