PDC 2008: Cleaning up the desktop in Windows 7
BetaNews | at | by Mike
The new taskbar in Windows 7 represents the most obvious visual change in the operating system since Windows 95. It will demand a little more interaction on the part of users who operate fewer applications at one time. However, that's a rapidly declining minority; and the text that appears to the right of running apps in the current taskbar is becoming, for most users, more obstructive than informational.
That said, it's not very pretty, at least not yet. In the interest of making the desktop prettier, the Windows 7 engineers have taken a cue from Excel, by adding a "live preview" option. For instance, when selecting a new wallpaper, you can see the choice you're considering on the desktop, prior to finalizing your choice.