14 DAY TRIAL // Rich presentation taskbar buttons aren't new, as they've been around since Windows XP, but it appears that Microsoft is actually preparing something a bit more exciting which the company obviously doesn't want to talk about.
Microsoft News has come across a new patent filed by the software giant which protects this particular technology, making everyone believe that a similar feature could come in Windows 9, obviously with a number of improvements.
While we do know how rich presentation taskbar buttons actually work, the information included in the patent provides a bit more detailed description that is really worth reading:
“The present invention provides a system or method for displaying rich presentation taskbar buttons for a corresponding application. In one example, the rich presentation taskbar button may receive content from an application through a programming interface. The present invention further relates to a system and method for displaying a rich presentation taskbar button and for displaying and/or dismissing a thumbnail of an application window associated with the rich presentation taskbar button.
“The present invention may further include a system and method of pinning the thumbnail on a display or dismissing a thumbnail. The present invention also relates to a system and method for displaying multiple taskbar buttons in a taskbar including controlling the size of individual taskbar buttons, consolidating taskbar buttons and placing taskbar buttons into an overflow based on the type of taskbar button in the taskbar.”
The big question is whether this new patent is actually a sign that Microsoft could stick to this technology in future Windows versions, such as Windows 9, and further improve it to boost usability of the taskbar.
Windows 9 is the next big version of Microsoft's flagship operating system and according to unofficial reports, it could see daylight as soon as April 2015.
While bringing rich presentation taskbar buttons in Windows 9 wouldn't be such impressive, Microsoft might actually tweak this technology to be used on touch-capable devices, such as Surface tablets, and thus give consumers the option to improve multi-tasking even more.
No one can tell for sure the reason why Microsoft actually decided to patent this technology only now, but expect something really exciting to come out of Redmond in the coming months.
We've also reached out to Microsoft for an official statement on this, so we will update the article when we receive an answer from the Redmond-based software company.