Windows 7 Taskforce

More Notification Area Icons options.

Submitted by Jive Turkey on May 25, 2009 to Usability

Problem: I want to see icons, but not notifications. Out of the four possible options with showing/hiding icons and notifications in the Notification Area, the one I want isn't available. A default option for new icons would also be great.
Reasons for icons (and against notifications):
- Icons don't attract the users attention only to contain useless information like notifications do.
- Icons are persistent, so you can't miss them because you were afk.
- Icons are also a menu (for most programs that use them). I realise that with jump-lists this is unnecessary, however, background programs that don't have a window will still use the Notificatio Area icon for it's menu.
- Icons look nicer (unless you use a reeealy old program).

Solution: Preferably add the option to show icon, but not notification. Alternatively, use the "Click here to never display this message again" feature that has been in MSN/Windows Live Messenger for years.
Add the option to set default option for new icons.

Severity: Low

Impact: High

Status: Not fixed