The bar features multiple slots for icons and expands vertically to provide the user with more rows as more slots are needed. A minimized window is restored by double-clicking its icon or dragging the icon out of the bar. A window can be minimized by double-clicking its title bar, dragging it onto an empty spot on the bar, or by issuing a command from one of its menus. Windows 1.0, released in 1985, features a horizontal bar located at the bottom of the screen where running programs reside when minimized (referred to as 'iconization' at the time), represented by icons.

With the rapid evolution of operating systems and graphical user interfaces, items that are native to each operating system have been included in the various designs.Īntecedents Windows 1.0 In many cases, there is also a notification area, which includes interactive icons that display real-time information about the computer system and some of the running programs. In some versions of recent operating systems, users can 'pin' programs or files to this strip for quick access.

Clicking the icons or text enables the user to easily switch between windows, with the active window often appearing differently from the others on the strip. Icons or textual descriptions on this strip correspond to open windows. The designs vary, but generally include a strip along one edge of the screen. Since the introduction of Windows 95, other operating systems have incorporated graphical user interface elements that closely resemble the Taskbar or have similar features. At the time of its introduction in 1995, the Taskbar was unique among such elements because it provided the user with a means of switching between running programs through a single click of the pointing device. The Taskbar is an exemplar of a category of always-visible graphical user interface elements that provide access to fundamental operating system functions and information. The Taskbar and the associated Start Menu were created and named in 1993 by Daniel Oran, a program manager at Microsoft who had previously collaborated on Great ape language research with the behavioral psychologist B.F. The Taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running programs. Bar displayed on an edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications

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