Autohide of taskbar icons *and* of the taskbar itself is seriously
broken on XP.
There is apparently some "smarts" that attempts to keep the icons
and/or the taskbar visible based on certain application conditions.
For example, if you have a laptop that connects to multiple networks
(wifi,cable, etc.,) and usually have one of the network icons flagging
"disconnected" with the little red X in the corner of the icon, it'll
keep the icons visible apparently thinking it's important enough to
make sure you're aware of it. However if you *normally* run with some
task icons in their "alert" state, (as in this case, I'm only connected
to one network at a time so the other network connection is *always* in
the "disconnected," state which is keeping everything from auto-hiding
coaxing the taskbar to hide or the icons to hide becomes a real
challenge, if not impossible.
The problem is worst when you also have "stay on top" selected on the
taskbar-- something you want when the taskbar IS hidden and behind
other apps-- you can't get to the start bar at all without minimizing a
buhc of windows, and you can't get to the "show desktop" button either
as it's on the )(*#@()% taskbar that you can't get to.
I often use a large scrolling telnet window that is designed to extend
the full height of the screen-- and I auto-hide because I want to use
all the screen for my text window. However, the fact the )(&*%@)(%*
taskbar won't autohide reliably is a royal PITA.
What I've resorted to is to use a free utility out there called
TransBar that will allow you to adjust the transparency of the taskbar
so I can see through it when I'm trying to type and the )(#%*)( taskbar
refuses to auto-hide.
It's on the top of MY list of Windows annoyances, that's for sure. If
I set auto-hide, I MEAN IT, the OS has no business overriding it under
miscellaneous "alert" conditions that are more often useless to me than
of any interest. I don't care if the OS thinks some kind of alert
condition is going on (other than an impending crash or reboot) if I'm
typing on a screen it darn well better stay OUT of my way until I'm
finished what I'm doing. That's why hack free utilities such as PTFB
(push-the-freakin' button) were designed, to work around the annoying
in-your-face behaviours of the OS.
Oh for an OS that can be configured so that it is incapable of stealing
your input focus or inserting popup windows (or unhiding hidden
taskbars) while you are trying to type. Now THERE's the one feature
that would make Vista worth upgrading to, but I'll bet it won't have
it...
-- Sync
