Windows 7 对任务栏进行了重大重新设计，其中包含许多改进。该列表包括Aero Peek、叠加图标和进度条、跳转列表、固定项目等功能。它们中的大多数仍在Windows 8.1中工作，因此在本文中，我们将向您展示如何在两种操作系统中使用Windows 任务栏的每个功能。(Windows Taskbar)
如何将项目固定到任务栏
将项目固定到任务栏意味着为其添加快捷方式。为此，请按或单击(press or click)文件并将其拖动到任务栏上。
如果您使用的是Windows 8.1 操作系统(operating system)，您还可以按照以下步骤将项目固定到任务栏：首先，在搜索框中输入要固定的应用程序的名称，右键单击或(click or press)按住它，然后，选择“固定到任务栏”("Pin to Taskbar")。
在Windows 7和Windows 8.1中，您可以直接从桌面(Desktop)固定项目。按住(Press and hold)或右键单击快捷方式或可执行文件，然后选择(file and select) “固定到任务栏”("Pin to Taskbar")。
如何使用跳转列表
跳转列表(Jump Lists)是Windows 任务栏(Windows taskbar)的一项非常酷的功能。当您右键单击或按住任务栏中的快捷方式时，您将看到一个为其定制的小菜单，其中显示了该应用程序的常用目标（例如：Windows/File Explorer中的库(Libraries)）或执行的最频繁任务该应用程序中的用户（例如：在 Internet Explorer 中打开新选项卡）。(Open new tab)
最流行的应用程序包括支持此功能的增强功能，并使其可用性得到很大改进(usability improvement)。
如何同时使用交互式缩略图和分组缩略图(Interactive And Grouped Thumbnails)
在Windows 7和Windows 8.1中，所有任务栏窗口默认组合在一起，无论其数量如何。当您打开同一个应用程序的多个窗口时，您会在其右侧看到其图标和一些额外的矩形。如果您将鼠标悬停在应用程序图标(application icon)上，您将看到所有打开的窗口的实时预览。这些预览窗口也是交互式的。您可以通过单击右侧的x按钮关闭任何窗口，也可以通过单击其缩略图打开特定窗口。(specific window)
如何使用缩略图工具栏或实时缩略图(Thumbnail Toolbars Or Live Thumbnails)
当您将鼠标悬停在打开窗口的缩略图上时，缩略图工具栏允许生成窗口控件。(Thumbnail toolbars)当电影打开时，它允许您停止它或直接从缩略图开始播放。或者，在听音乐时，您可以跳过当前曲目或暂停它。此功能非常棒，但不幸的是，它仅适用于为使用它而开发的应用程序。
如何使用 Aero Peek
Aero Peek功能很好地补充了交互式缩略图。当您将鼠标悬停在任务栏上的缩略图预览(thumbnail preview)上时，您还将在桌面上看到其对应的窗口，而所有其他窗口都消失在玻璃板上。此功能对用户在识别他们即将打开的窗口是否正确时非常有帮助。同时，您只需悬停鼠标即可获得实时缩略图预览以及整个窗口。(thumbnail preview)
如何使用叠加图标和进度条(Overlay Icons And Progress Bars)
覆盖图标和进度条(Overlay Icons and Progress Bars)是另一个很棒的功能。它允许程序在其任务栏按钮的上下文中显示图标或进度。(icon or progress)Windows/File Explorer中复制文件和文件夹时，这是最明显的。在复制活动(copy activity)期间，您将看到一个显示复制过程状态的(copying process)进度条(progress bar)。完成后，它将填满并消失。这非常有用，因为您不再需要打开Windows/File Explorer窗口来查看进程的进展情况。同样(Again)，可以对应用程序进行编程以利用此功能。例如，它对文件归档器非常有用。
Color Hot-track - 当从任务栏将鼠标移动到正在运行的窗口上时，您将看到动态颜色的灯光效果。此灯光效果跟随您在任务栏图标上的(taskbar icon)鼠标移动(mouse movement)，它基于图标的颜色。正如您在下面的屏幕截图中看到的那样，彩色灯对于Windows/File ExplorerInternet Explorer是蓝色的，对于Google Chrome是红色的，对于(Google Chrome)Firefox是橙色的。
如何使用“显示桌面(Show Desktop)”快捷方式(Shortcut)和通知区域(Notification Area)
在任务栏的右侧，您有通知区域(notification area)和“显示桌面”("Show desktop")按钮。在Windows 7中，当您将鼠标悬停在其上方时，您将在其上方看到“显示桌面”("Show desktop")文本，Aero Peek将被启用，您将看到所有打开的窗口的透明轮廓。在Windows 8.1中，此按钮不可见，但确实存在。如果单击它，您将看到桌面(Desktop)。如果再次单击它，它将把所有打开的窗口恢复到最后一个已知位置。
默认情况下，通知区域将隐藏除(Notification Area)音量混合器、网络(Volume Mixer, Network)和操作中心(Action Center)之外的所有图标。要访问其他图标，您需要单击左侧的箭头。
有关通知区域(Notification Area)及其使用方法的更多信息，请阅读本教程：如何在Windows 7和Windows 8中自定义(Windows 8)通知区域(Notification Area)。
结论
Windows 7 引入了新的强大功能来改进任务栏，Windows 8.1 任务栏保留了所有这些功能。我们希望Windows 10能够改进它并提供新功能，但这还有待观察。如果您对此主题(subject or problems)有任何疑问或Windows 任务栏(Windows taskbar)的问题，请不要犹豫，在下面的部分中发表评论。
How To Use The Taskbar In Windows 7 & Windows 8.1
Windows 7 intrоduced a major redesign of the taskbar which packs a lot of improvеments. The list includes features such as Aero Peek, oνerlay icons and progreѕs bars, jump lists, pinned items and so on. Most of them arе still working in Windowѕ 8.1 so in this article we'll show you how to use every feature of Windows Taskbar in both operating systems.
How To Pin Items To The Taskbar
Pinning items to the taskbar means adding shortcuts to it. To do this, press or click and drag the file over the taskbar.
If you are using the Windows 8.1 operating system, you can also follow these steps to pin items to the taskbar: first, type in the search box the name of the application you want to pin, right click or press and hold it and then, select "Pin to Taskbar".
In both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 you can pin items directly from the Desktop. Press and hold or right click the shortcut or the executable file and select "Pin to Taskbar".
How To Use The Jump Lists
Jump Lists are a very cool feature of the Windows taskbar. When you right click or press and hold a shortcut from the taskbar, you will see a small menu customized for it, which shows you frequently used destinations for that application (e.g: Libraries in Windows/File Explorer) or the most frequent tasks performed by the user in that application (e.g: Open new tab in Internet Explorer).
The most popular applications include enhancements to support this feature and make it a big usability improvement.
How To Use Both Interactive And Grouped Thumbnails
In Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, all taskbar windows are grouped together by default, regardless of their number. When you have multiple windows of the same application open, you will see its icon and some additional rectangles on its right. If you leave your mouse over the application icon, you will see a real-time preview of all its opened windows. These preview windows are also interactive. You can close any of the windows by clicking the x button on the right and you can open a specific window by clicking on its thumbnail.
How To Use The Thumbnail Toolbars Or Live Thumbnails
The Thumbnail toolbars allows the generation of window controls to appear when you hover the mouse over the thumbnail of an open window. When a movie is open, it allows you to stop it or start playing it directly from the thumbnail. Or, when listening to music, you can skip the current track or pause it. This feature is really great but, unfortunately it is available only for applications that are developed to use it.
How To Use Aero Peek
The Aero Peek feature complements the interactive thumbnails very well. When you hover the mouse over a thumbnail preview on the taskbar, you will also see its corresponding window on the desktop with all other windows faded away into glass sheets. This feature is very helpful to users when identifying whether the window they are about to open is the correct one. You get, at the same time, a real-time thumbnail preview plus the whole window with just a hover of the mouse.
How To Use Overlay Icons And Progress Bars
The Overlay Icons and Progress Bars is another great feature. It allows a program to show an icon or progress in context onits taskbar button. This is the most noticeable when copying files and folders in Windows/File Explorer. During the copy activity you will see a progress bar showing the status of the copying process. When done, it's going to fill up and disappear. This is extremely useful as you no longer need to open the Windows/File Explorer window to see how the process is progressing. Again, applications can be programmed to take advantage of this feature. For example, it can be very useful for file archivers.
Color Hot-track - when moving the mouse over a running window from the taskbar, you will see a dynamically colored light effect. This light effect follows your mouse movement over the taskbar icon and it is based on the color of the icon. As you can see in the screenshot below, the colored light is yellow for Windows/File Explorer, blue for Internet Explorer, red for Google Chrome and orange for Firefox.
How To Use The "Show Desktop" Shortcut And The Notification Area
On the right side of the taskbar you have the notification area and the "Show desktop" button. In Windows 7 when you keep your mouse over it, you will see the "Show desktop" text above it, the Aero Peek will be enabled and you'll see a transparent contour of all open windows. In Windows 8.1 this button is not that visible, but is there. If you click it, you will see the Desktop. If you click it again, it will restore all the open windows in their last known position.
By default, the Notification Area will hide all icons except the ones for the Volume Mixer, Network and the Action Center. To access the other icons, you need to click on the arrow on the left.
For more information about Notification Area and how use it, read this tutorial: How to Customize the Notification Area in Windows 7 & Windows 8.
Conclusion
Windows 7 introduced new great features to improve the taskbar and Windows 8.1 taskbar kept all of them. We hope that Windows 10 will improve on it and offer new features but that will remain to be seen. If you have any question about this subject or problems with the Windows taskbar don't hesitate to leave a comment in the section below.
