It's About Friggin' Time!
Jon Galloway posts about GroupBar out of Microsoft Research. I have complained for many years now that the Windows taskbar is crap without the ability to move applications around. I've always given the example that when you lay a piece of paper with some notes on it down on your desk that's just where it is. The next time you want to read something off of that paper you reach for where you know it is. It doesn't move somewhere else when you pick it up, it's in your hands. People that use computers every day, typically have the same types of things open. For me, it's E-Mail, IM, Media Player, Visual Studio and some IE windows. I purposely open them up in the exact same order every morning before starting anything. This helps with muscle memory when navigating with the mouse. I can pretty much navigate between them without thinking or even looking. I'm not sure I explained very well how this relates to a piece of paper on your desk, but hopefully you see the connection there. When I want my e-mail, it should be in the same place it always is, not in the order I opened it. Now if GroupBar started to remember my groups and set things up for me, I would crap my pants. Good job, MS Research and I hope to see some of this in Vista or later versions of Windows!