adding in

[SilentTrigger]

Don't like stuff on the taskbar either, feels too messy, all I have are:

Explorer
IE
Firefox

The rest is on the startmenu

I do however have alot more programs installed then scott heh

[Guest001]

I have (after years of hoarding) over 10,000 executable files alone and a lot of them are standalone and no system path etc.. so I use a thing called (Search Everything - http://www.voidtools.com/) that is so fast you wouldn't believe it, once the initial data base is tabulated this is instant search as you type and works with filters and RegEx across all the drives not just the system.

[Guest001]

Originally Posted by Scott

It's so much easier to use the windows key + type a few chars of the program + enter. More room for open programs and less chance of clicking an unwanted program by mistake.

My taskbar only has Chrome and Notepad. My installed programs list is also really small now days.

KeePass
TrueCrypt
AnyDVD
DVD Shrink
CCleaner
Crimson Editor
FileZilla
VLC Video
Microsoft Office
Google Chrome (includes flash and pdf viewer)
Microsoft Security Essentials
PDF Sam
PDF995
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
WinRAR

I can't remember the last time I downloaded a new program and/or driver. My computer has been running like new since early 2009

These are also good source editors with custom language/highlighting settings you might like to try-
Notepad++
Programmers Notepad
Binedit (really good at editing .exe but not as customizable as the others)