- May 31, 2017
- 1,743
Hey Guys!
I wanted to introduce you to our new software, TaskbarPlus!
This project is long overdue… I should have done this years ago, I probably could have saved 30-40% of development time if I had TaskbarPlus years ago. As I mentioned before, I am tired of searching endlessly for files, drilling down on the same folders over and over again, and having a desktop that only has one space that is not occupied with an icon.
It finally decided to do something about it when I wanted to add a new item to my Windows Taskbar, and even it was full! It was then that I thought to myself, out of complete and utter frustration, “Why do computer desktops only have one Taskbar?”. With the help of ChatGPT, I created a quick and dirty demo of a desktop enhancement app that would offer multiple taskbars. Once I saw the demo in action, I knew I had to build this app. Fast forward to today, and TaskbarPlus has quickly become my absolute favorite app. I think you guys will really like all of “smart” usability features and tweaks I wove into the code.
BTW, TaskbarPlus is not intended to replace the Windows Taskbar. The Windows Taskbar is actually great, but its focus is on apps, whereas TaskbarPlus’s focus is on everything else, like files, folders, shortcuts, commands. I understand that Windows Taskbar can handle some files and folders (and the Jump Lists are amazing), but the idea with TaskbarPlus is to let Windows Taskbar do what it does best, and to also let TaskbarPlus do what it does best (basically handle everything Windows Taskbar does not). To a certain extent, this applies to Windows Explorer as well. TaskbarPlus is somewhat a hybrid of Windows Taskbar and Windows Explorer, although it also offers a completely different feature set, and obviously Windows Explorer has tons of features we would never add to TaskbarPlus.
I think the trick is this… the first time you find yourself looking for a file or drilling down on folders, or are experiencing a bottleneck in your workflow, stop for a second and add a link to TaskbarPlus. The first time I stopped and added a link, I was hooked.
TaskbarPlus is currently a portable app, and I might end up building an installer if we find we need it. I have no idea if this is going to be a free or paid app.
We have TONS of new ideas for features that we can add to TaskbarPlus… the options are truly endless, but we do not want it to turn into a bloated mess. We want to keep it simple and light. I just wanted you guys to try TaskbarPlus so we can discuss which features we should add or not. For example, there is a menu item for Taskbar Color that is not enabled yet. It would be relatively simple to add, but I am not convinced anyone would use it… I mean this is not 2002 Geocities after all. So that is why I am releasing it now… it should be pretty much bug free, but I am sure you guys will find something
. I have not checked / debugged for different link types that we can add to TaskbarPlus, but we can modify it to run anything. For example, on my TaskbarPlus, I have the command “taskkill /F /IM msbuild.exe /T” that kills msbuild.exe during development because it gets out of hand how many instances are running.
One really cool idea would be a sticky notes feature, so there would be a Notes taskbar that you can add sticky notes to. And there are other examples very similar to this, we just need to figure out what all we want to add.
Who knows, I might even get a new computer now that all my data is organized, and all I will have to do is install my apps, copy my data folders, then copy the TaskbarPlus Settings.json file, and voila, all my data will be organized and I will be good to go.
Having said all that… there is only one thing you need to know about TaskbarPlus (you guys will easily figure out everything else). There is a pin icon at the top right of the Taskbars, if you want to drag and drop items to them, simply pin the Taskbars first, then you can drag and drop all you want. When you are finished pinning new items, simply click the pin again and the Taskbars will hide.
www.taskbarplus.com
The website is super simple, we might add a few things later if people like this app.
TaskbarPlus 0.33 beta
SHA-256: eb86dbe1d3abae49201caa361e3fbdc06b977608192ac6db4483eb14ab0d9bd4
Thank you,
Dan
I wanted to introduce you to our new software, TaskbarPlus!
This project is long overdue… I should have done this years ago, I probably could have saved 30-40% of development time if I had TaskbarPlus years ago. As I mentioned before, I am tired of searching endlessly for files, drilling down on the same folders over and over again, and having a desktop that only has one space that is not occupied with an icon.
It finally decided to do something about it when I wanted to add a new item to my Windows Taskbar, and even it was full! It was then that I thought to myself, out of complete and utter frustration, “Why do computer desktops only have one Taskbar?”. With the help of ChatGPT, I created a quick and dirty demo of a desktop enhancement app that would offer multiple taskbars. Once I saw the demo in action, I knew I had to build this app. Fast forward to today, and TaskbarPlus has quickly become my absolute favorite app. I think you guys will really like all of “smart” usability features and tweaks I wove into the code.
BTW, TaskbarPlus is not intended to replace the Windows Taskbar. The Windows Taskbar is actually great, but its focus is on apps, whereas TaskbarPlus’s focus is on everything else, like files, folders, shortcuts, commands. I understand that Windows Taskbar can handle some files and folders (and the Jump Lists are amazing), but the idea with TaskbarPlus is to let Windows Taskbar do what it does best, and to also let TaskbarPlus do what it does best (basically handle everything Windows Taskbar does not). To a certain extent, this applies to Windows Explorer as well. TaskbarPlus is somewhat a hybrid of Windows Taskbar and Windows Explorer, although it also offers a completely different feature set, and obviously Windows Explorer has tons of features we would never add to TaskbarPlus.
I think the trick is this… the first time you find yourself looking for a file or drilling down on folders, or are experiencing a bottleneck in your workflow, stop for a second and add a link to TaskbarPlus. The first time I stopped and added a link, I was hooked.
TaskbarPlus is currently a portable app, and I might end up building an installer if we find we need it. I have no idea if this is going to be a free or paid app.
We have TONS of new ideas for features that we can add to TaskbarPlus… the options are truly endless, but we do not want it to turn into a bloated mess. We want to keep it simple and light. I just wanted you guys to try TaskbarPlus so we can discuss which features we should add or not. For example, there is a menu item for Taskbar Color that is not enabled yet. It would be relatively simple to add, but I am not convinced anyone would use it… I mean this is not 2002 Geocities after all. So that is why I am releasing it now… it should be pretty much bug free, but I am sure you guys will find something
. I have not checked / debugged for different link types that we can add to TaskbarPlus, but we can modify it to run anything. For example, on my TaskbarPlus, I have the command “taskkill /F /IM msbuild.exe /T” that kills msbuild.exe during development because it gets out of hand how many instances are running.One really cool idea would be a sticky notes feature, so there would be a Notes taskbar that you can add sticky notes to. And there are other examples very similar to this, we just need to figure out what all we want to add.
Who knows, I might even get a new computer now that all my data is organized, and all I will have to do is install my apps, copy my data folders, then copy the TaskbarPlus Settings.json file, and voila, all my data will be organized and I will be good to go
.Having said all that… there is only one thing you need to know about TaskbarPlus (you guys will easily figure out everything else). There is a pin icon at the top right of the Taskbars, if you want to drag and drop items to them, simply pin the Taskbars first, then you can drag and drop all you want. When you are finished pinning new items, simply click the pin again and the Taskbars will hide.
www.taskbarplus.com
The website is super simple, we might add a few things later if people like this app.
TaskbarPlus 0.33 beta
SHA-256: eb86dbe1d3abae49201caa361e3fbdc06b977608192ac6db4483eb14ab0d9bd4
Thank you,
Dan
