I am also accustomed to my taskbar being set in “Combine when taskbar is full” mode, which is a compromise between the dock-resembling Windows 7 taskbar and the older taskbar style with which XP and Vista users would be familiar. This looks something like this:

An alternative taskbar look for Windows 7

Today, I decided to see if I could get accustomed to the Windows 7 taskbar look, which involves taking out those labels and showing merely the icons. Screenshot by Paul Thurrott:

The default Windows 7 taskbar style

This is when I discovered something cool yet shocking about my browsers.

Firefox in the taskbar

Mozilla Firefox is a nice browser; that’s why I use it most of the time. Google Chrome is lightweight, fast, and aesthetically pleasing; that’s why it’s my default browser.

But neither of them seem aware of Windows 7. Their browser icons are plainly represented in the taskbar, even when I’ve got multiple tabs open. In the screenshot to the right, Mozilla Firefox only gets one taskbar thumbnail when I mouse over the icon, even though I have 4 tabs open. The icon, too, doesn’t reveal anything about how many tabs are open.

Chrome has the same issue

With Google Chrome, the exact same thing happens. The thumbnail is one of the application, not the individual tabs open, so it would appear that Windows 7 isn’t aware of the individual tabs nor is Chrome taking advantage of the new taskbar.

Internet Explorer has no issue with this; as soon as more than one tab is opened, the taskbar reflects this change. Note: the same change occurs for Chrome and Firefox if multiple WINDOWS are opened.

Windows 7 recognizes tabs in Microsoft's browser

The shocking thing is, Apple’s new browser takes advantage of the taskbar. Perhaps one expects this from a company that focuses on user experience and aesthetics. But this just makes Safari awesome.

The taskbar actually recognizes the individual tabs in Safari 4

You’ll notice that the thumbnails aren’t of the browser, but of the individual pages loaded in tabs. This means that I can click on a thumbnail to go directly to that tab — an excellent convenience, thanks to the Windows 7 taskbar.

I’m very surprised that Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, two of the most common browsers among people who are on the cutting edge of software technology, aren’t taking advantage of Windows 7′s new taskbar. After all, according to Wakoopa (which tracks software usage), Firefox and Chrome are the 1st and 3rd most used browsers on Windows. Come on, Mozilla developers, make your browser more Aero-aware and taskbar-aware! Even Chrome looks nicer on Aero Glass by default.

Chrome looks really attractive with an Aero Glass interface

Taskbar thumbnails are really useful when the taskbar items don’t have labels and when the icons are combined. It’s no longer necessary to read the labels to determine which item to click on; I can just mouse over, quickly scan over the thumbnails, and click on the one I want. Kudos to the people at Microsoft who came up with this intuitive interface!

If you’re still on Windows XP — noting that it is nearly 8 years old — or on Vista, Windows 7 is a major step up in terms of the user interface. It might take a bit of adjusting, but in the end, I am certain you’ll like it.