<Li> Windows XP introduced taskbar grouping, which can group the taskbar buttons of several windows from the same application into a single button . This button pops up a menu listing all the grouped windows when clicked . This keeps the taskbar from being overcrowded when many windows are open at once . </Li> <Li> Windows Vista introduced window previews which show thumbnail views of the application in real - time . This capability is provided by the Desktop Window Manager . The Start menu tooltip no longer says "Click here to begin" but now says simply "Start". </Li> <Li> Windows 7 introduced jumplists which are menus that provide shortcuts to recently opened documents, frequently opened documents, folders paths (in case of Windows Explorer), or various options (called Tasks) which apply to that specific program or pinned website shortcut . Jump lists appear when the user right - clicks on an icon in the taskbar or drags the icon upwards with the mouse left click . Recent and frequent files and folders can be pinned inside the jump list . </Li> <Li> Windows 7 introduced the ability to pin applications to the taskbar so that buttons for launching them appear when they are not running . Previously, the Quick Launch was used to pin applications to the taskbar; however, running programs appeared as a separate button . </Li>

The area on the taskbar from which frequently used programs can be opened