|
Notification Area
Tell an XP user to look in the Notification Area and
"Huh?" is the usual response. It's that area over there on
the right side of the Taskbar where the clock is located.
Hover your mouse over the clock and it will tell you the day
and date in a little pop-up balloon. Chances are good that
you'll see some other icons there as well.
There's really not a lot to say about the
Notification Area. It's designed to be fairly unobtrusive
and for the most part it accomplishes that goal. Unobtrusive
however doesn't mean it's not useful or that you shouldn't
pay attention to the area. Granted, the one shown above is
pretty useless, but let's look at another example.
This area comes from one of the systems I
use every workday. If you're a Microsoft Office user you'll
probably recognize the Outlook icon and the small envelope
directly to the left indicates there are new, unopened mail
items. The world icon is a part of Norton Internet Security
and the small yellow computer is a part of Norton Internet
Security. With a quick glance at the Notification Area I can
tell if there are new e-mail messages, make sure that Norton
Internet Security is enabled and insure that Norton
AntiVirus AutoProtect is enabled. That may not seem like
much to the casual user, but for someone that spends hours
per day in front of a computer that grouping of critical
information is invaluable.
Not all information that sneaks into the
Notification Area will be useful, or at the least it won't
be information that you want constantly visible. See that
little arrow inside the circle pointing to the left? More
notification area icons are hiding there. Click it and the
area will expand to the left to reveal the additional icons.
What you want in the Notification Area is a
personal choice although many companies feel they have a
right to clutter the area up in spite of your wishes.
Fortunately, you have recourse. Try right clicking on one of
the icons and see if there is an entry for 'settings' or
'preferences' available. Well behaved programs from
considerate developers will make it easy to turn off the
icon if you'd rather it not be part of the Notification
Area.
For those that aren't considerate, right
click on an open part of the Taskbar and select Properties
to open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties sheet. Select
the Taskbar tab and click Customize... button in the
Notification Area section to open the Customize
Notifications sheet.
To set custom behaviors for each of the
icons, click the desired item in the Behavior column and
you'll have three choices; Always Show, Always Hide, and
Hide When Inactive. Make the desired selections and click
OK. For the Hide When Inactive option to have any effect
you'll also need to make sure the Hide Inactive Icons entry
is checked on the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties sheet.
|
