There's very little you can customize about the Windows taskbar, and I think that many early Windows 10 adopters accept me this feature hasn't improved too much because the first version rolled out in preview stage in October 2014.

The Windows 10 taskbar, however, remains a vital feature from the operating-system, so for anything than basic functionality, the only option is to look in the third-party app ecosystem.

One of the software solutions that come in handy so far as enhancing the taskbar goes is SmartTaskbar, a Windows 10 application that's available in the Microsoft Store and which you can now install free of charge.

NOTE: This app comes with a free license, but you can purchase it as a donation. Should you don't wish to spend any cent, however, you can continue utilizing it for as long as you want.

There's not much you'll get after installing SmartTaskbar, albeit its purpose is fairly simple: hide the taskbar when you run an app in the maximized mode and restore it when you go back to the window mode.

While you most likely know already, the taskbar can be automatically hidden in Windows 10, albeit this becomes the default behavior and you can reveal it by moving the mouse cursor in the lower part of the screen.

But on the other hand, what SmartTaskbar does is enhance this feature with an robotic voice that only hides the taskbar should you run an application in full screen. This lets you enjoy the maximum screen estate around the desktop without compromising usability in any way.

SmartTaskbar sports a super-simple interface which comes right down to a few settings which you'll access by right-clicking the icon in the system tray. In fact, this context menu is the only thing you're getting, as the app is automatically minimized to tray to then look after your taskbar.

You will find just two options in this context menu.

The first is animation, which lets you enable an easy visual effect once the taskbar is going away and also the active window is resized to grow towards the entire screen. Should you don't enable the animation, the knowledge appears to be a little faster, albeit it's obviously not as eye-candy as it is having a visual effect activated.

As for the automatic mode, this allows SmartTaskbar to take control of the taskbar and hide it when running an app entirely screen. If you don't enable this automatic mode, you need to manually activate the whole process by double-clicking the icon within the system tray.

Which is virtually it. At first glance, it doesn't seem like SmartTaskbar does much, however, you really can't image how useful this little app could be when you're attempting to make the most of the available screen estate. And also the best of all is that it's a freeware app that doesn't eat up your system resources and quietly runs within the System Tray without you noticing it.

"THE BOTTOM LINE"

SmartTaskbar is first of all an excellent idea. I've been looking for this kind of application for a long time, and SmartTaskbar does precisely what it's designed to do without any unnecessary features or options.

The interface is really as straightforward as possible, and both beginners and power users alike shouldn't have any problem utilizing it.

Needless to say, it may be further enhanced with additional options, like a sound once the taskbar is hidden and restored, but I'm not sure everyone will be a fan of such an environment.

At the end of your day, SmartTaskbar is definitely an app that's certainly worth an opportunity. If you like to roll using the taskbar hidden on the screen, this could be the kind of tool that you're going to like.