This review was prepared by subscriber Joe Bennett as a part of his contribution to the new Wiki style "46 Best-ever Freeware List." Joe is one of 30 or so subscribers who have volunteered to act as software category editors for the project. If you feel you would like to assist as well you can get more details here. Here is his edited review:
If you are like me you probably have lots of different programs running on your PC at the same time. If so you’ll know how quickly your task bar can become a confusing mess of many different programs.
A great solution to this mess is to minimize programs, not to a bar in the taskbar, but to an icon in the system notification tray. This takes up much less space and is also a more effective way of quickly switching between programs. (The system notification tray is, by the way, the fancy term for the right hand side of your taskbar.)
Some applications have an inbuilt feature that allows minimizing to an icon, but most don’t. Enter the application minimizer. Each of the free minimizer programs listed here allows you to send any of your programs to the system tray instead of the task bar.
The product that impressed me most is TrayIt! [1]. First, it requires no installation; just double click the program file and it’s up and running. Second, it can minimize open windows to the tray either temporarily or permanently with just one click. Third, it handles "difficult" windows such as skins with ease. Fourth, it works with all versions of Windows (95 through Vista). Fifth, it’s a tiny 44KB! Finally, it’s free. A little gem.
A good alternative is PowerMenu [2]. It works slightly differently because it gives the option to minimize to system tray on a context menu rather than by using the Ctrl key. It also has additional options to keep the window always on top and also set priority and transparency. Like Trayit!, it doesn’t need to be installed. However, PowerMenu hasn’t been updated for some time and has some features that only work for Windows NT and later.
4T Tray Free [3] is another option. It is the only one of the programs reviewed that allows you to minimize programs to the system tray in multiple ways, either by using keyboard shortcuts or by clicking on additional buttons on the applications title bar. This feature alone will make it an attractive option for some people. It is highly configurable, easy to use and very intuitive. However, unlike the TrayIt! and PowerMenu, it is not portable and needs to be installed before use.
[1] TrayIt!
Website:
http://tinyurl.com/2wfjb (Editor’s note: I’ve used a tinyurl link as McAfee Site Advisor incorrectly rates this site as "red." The site itself is fine though there are links to other sites that are not OK. You can however download TrayIT! with confidence – Gizmo)
Author: Igor Nys
Date: 7/26/2007
Version: 2.11.11 (Stable), 4.6.5.1 (Release Candidate) Download File size: 35 kb
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 95-Vista
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable version available: Yes
Other languages supported: Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Russian and Spanish
[2] PowerMenu
Website:
http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/powermenu/
Author: Thong Nguyen
Date: 11/23/2002
Version: 1.5.1
Download File size:
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: 95-Vista
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable version available: Yes
Other languages supported: None
[3] 4T Tray Minimizer Free
Website: – -
http://www.4t-niagara.com/tray.html
Author: 4T Niagra Software
Date: 3/24/2007
Version: 4.40
Download File size: 801 kb
License: Free for Personal Use
Operating systems supported: Windows 95-Vista
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: None
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