Taskbar

In computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows  and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. The Windows taskbar can be modified by users in several ways. The taskbar as a whole can be hidden until the mouse pointer is moved to the display edge, or has keyboard focus.

Taskbar elements

• The Start menu, which is accessed by a button on the taskbar, contains commands that can access programs, documents, and settings.
• The Quick Launch bar, introduced with Windows  contains shortcuts to applications. Windows provides default entries, such as Launch Internet Explorer Browser, and the user or third-party software may add any further shortcuts that they choose. A single click on the application's icon in this area launches the application. This section may not always be present: for example it is turned off by default in Windows.
• The Windows shell places a taskbar button on the taskbar whenever an application creates an unknown window: that is, a window that doesn't have a parent and that is created according to normal Windows user interface guidelines. Typically all Single Document Interface applications have a single taskbar button for each open window
• Deskbands are minimized functional, long-running programs, such as Windows Media Player. Programs that minimize to deskbands aren't displayed in the taskbar.
•  The notification area is the portion of the taskbar that displays icons for system and program features that have no presence on the desktop as well as the time and the volume icon. It contains mainly icons that show status information, though some programs, such as Winamp, use it for minimized windows. By default, this is located in the bottom-right of the primary monitor  or at the bottom of the taskbar if docked vertically. The clock appears here, and applications can put icons in the notification area to indicate the status of an operation or to notify the user about an event.