7+ Taskbar Tweaker is an interesting tool which allows you to customise the Windows 7 (and now Windows 8) taskbar in a variety of ways.
If you don't like the way Windows 7 groups items on the taskbar, for instance, then you can turn this off, either for everything or just pinned items.
Left-click a grouped item and you'll normally see a thumbnail preview of that application's open windows. But 7 Taskbar Tweaker can change this so that you'll cycle through those open windows, instead.
Other options allow you to change the middle-click action (you can create a new program instance, set focus to that application, minimise or close it), or replace jump lists with the standard window menu (Restore, Move, Size, Minimise and so on).
And you're able to create useful new shortcuts in just a click or two. So by double-clicking on empty taskbar space, say, you're able to show the desktop, display the Ctrl+Alt+Tab screen, launch Task Manager and more.
One minor hassle here is that 7 Taskbar Tweaker needs to be running in the background for these tweaks to be effective. The program only requires a little over 1MB RAM (private working set), though, so it's not going to be a noticeable drain on your system's resources.
Another possible complication is that the program works by injecting itself in Explorer and accessing its memory directly. It's a clever programming technique, but it's also regarded as suspect by many antivirus packages, and so may trigger malware alerts on your system. The program doesn't actually carry out any malicious actions, but if you're concerned then check the author's site for comments on this issue.
This is the brand new v4, with the following new features:
- Renamed to "7+ Taskbar Tweaker"
- Now Windows 8 compatible
- Stability fixes
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