Windows 7 Snapshots – What’s the peeking all about

Desktop clutter – we all get it at some point. Window after window open and you are doing something in all of them. The problem is that you want to see something on your desktop. In previous versions of Windows you had to either close out or minimize all the windows in order to even see the desktop. Well in windows 7 the guys at Redmond have come up with a nifty little trick.

By hovering your mouse cursor over the small bar at the very end of the taskbar all the open programs on the desktop suddenly turn into solid sheets of transparent Aero glass.  By clicking on that same bar all the open windows are minimized leaving your desktop nice and clear. Another quick click on the bar will return those programs to their previous windowed state.

You can see the area where you have to click in the following screenshot

So for a desktop that would look something like this (click for larger view)

When you mouse over the bar at the end of the taskbar you will see something like this (click for larger view)

You can just make out the Aero glass panels where the application windows would be. One interesting thing I found and you will notice if you compare the two pictures is that Twhirl – which is an Adobe AIR application – just disappears altogether. There is no Aero glass panel where it should be.

While I’m sure that if I was running desktop widgets this feature might be handy but for now it’s more just kinda cool. It’s a minor UI touch though that I am sure more than a few people will appreciate – especially those who want to clear their desktop really quick.