# I'm a taskbar fascist, and I don't care who knows! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637 "2004-10-05T14:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/1 "2004-10-05T14:07:35Z")
I’m catching flak at work because my Eudora crashed. Oh, no one cared that the program crashed. They thought it was hilarious that I had to shut down other programs so when I restarted Eudora it would be in the proper order on my taskbar. The Eudora tab is second. It has to be second. The Straight Dope browser tab is fourth. Nothing else is acceptable! But, apparently, I’m the only person in the world to whom this matters. I’ll be alone in my jackbooted taskbar thuggery if I have to, but I’d like to have a friend to goosestep around with. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/2 "2004-10-05T14:16:05Z")
You’re not the only one. I launch my standard programs in the same order every morning so that they’ll always be in the same order on my taskbar. I, too, will close & relaunch other programs if one crashes or I accidentally close it. I also use a vertical taskbar because I can stack up more programs and have them be visible and I hate it when the horizontal taskbar resizes my icons. When using a vertical taskbar they’re always the same size. I assumed this was some sort of librarian-related OCD. What’s your excuse? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/3 "2004-10-05T14:25:30Z")
I like Lotus Notes to be the first item. After that, it doesn’t matter. So I’m not quite as OCD as y’all. ---
**Author:** ![VenusProbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e495f1/32.png) [@VenusProbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusProbe)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/4 "2004-10-05T14:30:00Z")
Nope, my taskbar is always in a state of chaos/flux. If something dies I just relaunch it and find it wherever it lands on the TB. Just don’t move my coffee cup. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/5 "2004-10-05T14:30:21Z")
You guys are talking about the order for alt+tab cycling? ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/6 "2004-10-05T14:31:08Z")
You’re definitely not alone. I launch my programs in the following order: Lotus Notes MS Access 97 MS Excel MS Access 2000 (don’t ask why I need both versions) Those 4 programs are the ones I use constantly all day long, so it’s imperative to me that they’re in the right place on the toolbar. If any of them crash, I totally shut things down and re-open them so they’re in the right place. All other extraneous programs can be opened after, but those core programs _must_ be correctly ordered for me to function, or I’ll spend all day alt-tabbing the wrong number of times or clicking automatically on what I _think_ is the program I want and coming up with the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/7 "2004-10-05T14:34:44Z")
I’m the same way: Outlook has to be the first item, Blackboard the second. This is because I constantly use them, and it’s a lot easier to keep going to the same spot than to search for them at different locations each time. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/8 "2004-10-05T14:38:35Z")
And then there’s me. I’m just all willy-nilly with my task bar. Don’t care who or what’s on first, long as I can tab or click on it when I need it. I am a taskbar **ANARCHIST!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/9 "2004-10-05T14:41:55Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > I like Lotus Notes to be the first item. After that, it doesn’t matter. So I’m not quite as OCD as y’all. Same here. One of my favorite things about XP is that if the taskbar is (Notes)(Mozilla FireFox)(IE)(FTP client) and you open another Firefox window it goes: (Notes)(Mozilla FireFox)(Mozilla FireFox)(IE)(FTP client) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/10 "2004-10-05T14:57:01Z")
I was always the same before I got a Mac. Outlook, IE, Homesite, then anything else. If one crashed, I had to close 'em down and start again. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/11 "2004-10-05T15:12:13Z")
Yes. Me too. Work: Lotus Notes IE (for Comcast webmail) Word Excel anything else Home: Thunderbird Firefox Windows Media Player anything else ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/12 "2004-10-05T15:13:09Z")
Me too. My order is: Outlook Citrix Metaframe IE Excel I really like the Windows Media tasbar, since it has the buttons on it when it’s minimized and how it always resides in the same place. That way it stays out of my way. However, before they added that feature, it was third. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/13 "2004-10-05T15:15:29Z")
There are tools which let you move the icons in the taskbar. [Taskbar Commander](http://www.onlinetoolsteam.com/TaskbarCommander) is one. There’s another one which lets you drag the icons around in the taskbar. I can’t remember what it is at the moment. I’ll post it if I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/14 "2004-10-05T15:28:38Z")
[Taskbar Manager](http://www.askarya.com) lets you drag the icons in the taskbar to move them in a different order. ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/15 "2004-10-05T15:30:25Z")
i’ve always wondered why windows doesn’t let you just move the icons around, i mean, you can move icons onthe desktop, why not on the taskbar?!?!? thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/16 "2004-10-05T15:45:42Z")
Windows Explorer first, then Outlook, then Illustrator, then browser. After that, it fragments. I want to click on what I want without having to look. That involves more work. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/17 "2004-10-05T15:48:37Z")
Microsoft Outlook has to be first…and always open. If it’s not working for whatever reason it really annoys me. Next is IE. Other than that, I like to have as few open as possible so I’m opening and closing files all day. I have to go in a million different programs throughout the day, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/18 "2004-10-05T15:49:31Z")
You’re definitely not alone. At least when I’m at work, the taskbar must be in perfect order, L-R: Outlook IE (My company’s web page) IE (The Matrix – our company’s account tracking program) IE (Yahoo) IE (SDMB) It can get muddled after that, but those five applications _must_ be in order. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/19 "2004-10-05T15:50:40Z")
Oh, God, I thought it was just me. At work, first is e-mail. Then it’s my work software, with the different modules open in a certain order. Yes, I too, have closed modules that have not failed just so I can get the one that did fail in the right place again. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637/20 "2004-10-05T15:53:07Z")
Hmm…nearly all the Outlook users open it first, like I do. But I _have to_ because I’ve learned that if I don’t open if first, for whatever reason the computer god becomes angry and will cause it to crash. So: Outlook Paradox Internet Explorer Then everything else all willy-nilly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-taskbar-fascist-and-i-dont-care-who-knows/267637.md?page=2)