Every now and then, we like to introduce you to a new or existing software application that you may not be familiar with. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the freeware app for Windows by the name of Taskbar Shuffle (currently v2.2.)
Taskbar Shuffle does one thing but it does it very well: it allows you to rearrange the buttons on your taskbar and/or system tray. For instance, I’ll usually pull up three different applications when I start my PC: Outlook, one Firefox window for browsing and one for Meebo, as well as Remote Desktop. Now, I typically like to have the “buttons” for these windows next to each other on my taskbar so I’ll always know where they’re at. Taskbar Shuffle allows me to do just that.
There’s just a little more to it than just that, though…
As many of you know, both Windows XP and Windows Vista automatically cluster your taskbar buttons together based on the application type (i.e., buttons for Internet Explorer windows will be placed side-by-side or buttons for open Microsoft Word documents and so on and so forth.) If you leave this feature of Windows enabled, Taskbar Shuffle allows you to move those clusters around on the taskbar – thus allowing for taskbar button organization.
Taskbar Shuffle really shines, however, if you’re one of the many individuals who disable this feature of Windows – allowing you to rearrange any and all buttons to your exact preference. (Place a Word document button in between two Internet Explorer buttons, etc.)
I recall testing this application when it was first released and after the first few explorer.exe crashes it caused, I abandoned using it. This version however, available as both an install and stand-alone application was released in June of 2007 and seems to be glitch-free after months of using it.
An added bonus for Windows Vista users…
Another feature of Windows is taskbar grouping (not what we were describing in the last paragraph.) By default, Windows can join all of an applications taskbar buttons into one thereby simplifying the appearance of the taskbar for those without a lot of screen real estate.
Clicking on that one taskbar button will bring up a small window, located directly above the button, allowing you to choose and view any window from that application group. Let’s say Windows has grouped 5 different text documents you have open. Click on that grouped taskbar button and you can then select the precise document to which you want to switch back:
I personally didn’t mind this feature but I wanted to change the default settings so that grouping would only occur if I had more than 15 windows open of the same type of application. (Sadly, this happens more often than I’d like.) Depending on how much space you have available on your taskbar, Windows begins grouping as few as three windows from any given application. Microsoft’s TweakUI for Windows XP allowed me to change this number to my desired preference: 15. However, TweakUI doesn’t work for Windows Vista and I wasn’t necessarily inclined to pay for a similar application just for this function alone. Fortunately, Taskbar Shuffle has this option embedded in its’ preferences and the program works just fine on either Windows XP or Windows Vista.
So, give Taskbar Shuffle a try…we highly recommend it.
