[M.Sudoku]

One of the most obvious changes you’ll see when you first boot into Windows 7 is the new taskbar dubbed the “superbar”. Most people like it, some don’t, but I think overall its a large improvement over that little strip of screen real estate which has not had a major renovation since Windows XP.

For some users, one hurdle of the new “superbar” is its enormous size, or so it appears. To set the record straight, Long Zheng conducted a little side-by-side experiment with two quick-launch items and two active applications on both Vista and Windows 7.



Some interesting findings:

• The Windows Start “pearl” button actually shrunk by about 8 pixels.
  
• Quick launch items are given more than twice the width and three times the width with Windows 7’s small and large icons respectively.
  
• Application buttons have relatively remain unchanged from Vista (and do not change in width with small icons), at the same time appearing much more elegant.

In summary, if you want a taskbar experience as close to Vista as possible in terms of real-estate, then enabling “small icons” will get you there. On the other hand, the default “large icons” won’t kill you either. In fact, if you don’t pin anything to the taskbar, then you’ll only lose 2 pixels per application whilst gaining 8 pixels from the Start button. What will you ever do with all those extra pixels.

Source: Long Zheng

PS: Eye Pie Rate has already uploaded a video here for showing that you can have the old taskbar back.
His thread: To all SuperBar Haters

[Liskiller]

Superbar is not that big.

[yanike]

I just have to say that sometimes people are very slow. The "SuperBar" is way better than any Windows taskbar period. Without the open window text on the superbar with everything pinned, you get more space to work with than you ever would on Vista. You will only use 60px for shortcuts and open windows. Also, sometimes you will only use 60px for both a shortcut and it's open windows when everything is pinned. Especially for IE and Windows Manager. 60px is way better than Vista's 158px. You can fit two and half (2 1/2) pinned "SuperBar" buttons into Vista's one button.

I love the extra 10px height. I can see the icons better and it makes working with the taskbar easier and quicker. Also, it looks a whole lot better as well. This taskbar actually goes with any desktop wallpaper you throw at it.

Also, arranging things is so much easier.

[Eye Pie Rate]

I agree, its not much bigger than a normal taskbar, good thread.

[CommonSense]

Yeah people should stop complaining about the "superbar." It's a great improvement. And it's not even that much bigger

[henrydtv]

great post
i love how everything is measured

[Frank2d]

The icons are NOT Quick Launch. They're just minimized windows.

[yanike]

Frank222222222222222222222d, on Jan 5 2009, 06:21 PM, said:

The icons are NOT Quick Launch. They're just minimized windows.

No, they are both quick launchers and window containers.

All I know is that I like them. Call 'em what you want, but they are here to stay and I don't mind.

[Peter Sebastian]

it's really not THAT big anyway...it's a nice option, I do appreciate it.

[FalseAgent]

after looking at that screenshot, the start menu orb looks like a quick launch item itself! (oh no?)