Get Familiar with the Taskbar

1. The area at the bottom of the screen and to the right of the Start button is the taskbar, where you see icons for some programs. The first three icons are for programs that aren't running (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Media Player); the fourth icon is for Solitaire, which you started in the preceding task. The mouse hovers over Solitaire to display the thumbnail or the program name.
   Use the taskbar as another way to run programs, in addition to the Start menu. You can use the taskbar to switch between programs by clicking the icon for the program you want to use.
2. Hover the mouse pointer over icons in the taskbar. For programs that are running, you may see a preview or thumbnail (small picture) of that program.
   Tip: Whether your computer has this capability depends, in part, on your edition of Windows 7. The Starter edition, for example, does not show thumbnails in the taskbar. This function also depends on your computer's graphics hardware, so you may not see taskbar thumbnails if you don't have the necessary hardware.
3. The right end of the taskbar is an area called the Notification area or icon tray, which displays the current date and time, as well as icons for other programs that run automatically when your computer starts. Messages called notifications pop up here from time to time. Get information about these icons by hovering the mouse pointer over them. Click any icon in the icon tray to open the associated program, and rightclick an icon to see a menu of available options, such as those to change settings or exit the program.

Tip: Before too long, you see a pop-up notification in the icon tray to Activate Windows Now. Windows 7 needs to phone home to Microsoft to check in - that's activation. Ignore this message until you have an Internet connection.

Tip: To recap: Start a program by using the Start menu, icons on the desktop, or icons in the taskbar. Switch between programs you have started by clicking their icons in the taskbar.