I set my Win XP task bar to be minimized by default. When I need to access it I can either mouse over the bottom stretch of my primary monitor, or more commonly, hit the Windows button on the keyboard ??? this seems much cleaner to me than always having it up. The drawback is that if you are ever working with a maximized console window (i.e. putty or such) on your primary display, the damn task bar will pop up and hide the command prompt any time you get an instant message from someone. This results in a game of: type at comm??? > fuck, an IM just popped up ??? can't see what I'm typing > click on IM window ??? task bar returns to hidden > start typing at command pro??? > FUCK! FUCKING IM AGAIN??? >> ... >> etc etc etc.
(i.e.: Where's my damn command prompt??)
Here's what you do to fix this:
- Right click on your task bar
- Click on properties
- Uncheck "Keep the taskbar on top of other windows"
- Click Apply and Close
Voila! Now you can work in peace. The one drawback to this is that your taskbar will no longer pop out if you mouse over the edge of the screen with another application maximized. But that's fine -- using the Windows key to pop it up does this for you.