Windows only (not Vista) 
When you’re working with a small screen space it’s nice to try and squeeze everything you can out of it. That’s especially true when you’ve got a device like the Eee PC who’s 7″ screen has an 800×480 maximum resolution. As you can imagine you’re Taskbar would fill up after opening just a few applications at a resolution like that.
One thing that you can do is hide the oversized Start button that appears in Windows. This is done with a simple and free application called Start Killer. When the program is running the Start button will disappear, but have no fear because it can still be accessed by pressing either the Windows Key on the keyboard, or by pressing Control+Esc.
Start Killer doesn’t work on Windows Vista, but Microsoft already did a decent job of shrinking down the size of the Start button there. On Windows XP, however, it can give you some extra breathing room on your Taskbar:
How do you get your Start button back? Simple, just close the program. When the program is running you’ll see an icon in your System Tray similar to the one in the screenshot above. You can use the icon to close the program or adjust a handful of settings (like auto-starting with Windows).
One thing that you can do is hide the oversized Start button that appears in Windows. This is done with a simple and free
application called Start Killer.right click on the taskbar, and clicking the check box next to auto-hide the taskbar. Oh, and click “Ok” or “Apply” and “Ok.”In the spirit of slashdot, there, fixed that for you. Ok, it’s not quite the same effect…
@mrcool10
yes but hiding the taskbar defeats the purpose of the application. It leaves the taskbar showing for you to have quick access to your active applications.
I can’t stand auto-hiding the Taskbar. It does save screen space, but makes it so difficult to access your running programs.
Plus my tip serves a different purpose: gives you more room on the Taskbar. Your tip will give you more screen space.
Why need this utility to make my official Startmenu hide! If run the future Microsoft Vista Start Menu ViStart program open two startmenu’s, but only your see ViStart! Now can make Startbutton hide so that never click on location. Now can canche Windows XP in a Vista look with “Vista Transformation Pack 9.0.1″or with “Isso Pack 4.4 Build”softpedia.com
@mrcool, @ryan:
Auto-hide taskbar can be a major pain. When you move the mouse nearby it comes back up, plus, some programs make it come up, etc. This program is neat because the Start button itself is annoying. There’s a Windows key, so.
–DM