How To Change Vista and XP Taskbar to Show Only Icons Like Windows 7

In Windows 7 the programs on the taskbar are only shown as icons. This frees alot of space and can quickly become very useful. Returning to Windows XP or Vista can leave you wanting for more space on the taskbar. Fortunately this can be resolved by a small registry tweak.

Instructions

Backup your registry before proceeding

• Open the start menu and in vista type into the search box, In XP open the run menu
• Type Regedit and ok
• Search for the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

• Create a new String
• Call it MinWidth and the Value to -255
• Reboot your computer

Now only the icon for the program will show. To return to the standard look just navigate to the registry key again and delete it.