By relocating the taskbar to the left side (or the right, if you prefer), you're freeing up vertical space for the stuff you use every day while making smarter use of wasted horizontal space.

To give this a whirl, right-click an empty area of the taskbar and clear the check mark next to Lock the taskbar. Next, left-click and hold on an empty area of the taskbar, and then drag it to the left (or right) side of the screen. Once you get close, you'll see it lock in, at which point you can release the mouse button.

Vista users may want to extend the width of the taskbar (by clicking and dragging the right edge) to better see the labels for currently running programs. But Windows 7 users can keep the taskbar narrow, as the new OS doesn't use taskbar labels anyway.

Works in: 7 , program pinning, rich thumbnail previews--the Windows 7 taskbar definitely offers some nice amenities. However, since it's "your" Windows (at least according to Microsoft's recent ads), you should be able to make the taskbar work exactly the way you want it to.