How about group categories? If we can group the groups into categories it would be possible to create a single icon that opens multiple groups of apps. Less clutter on the taskbar. Personally I don't mind the apps opening the original thumbnails because that allows me to quickly assess what's actually running and what is not running. Functionality I'm envisioning would look similar to the old Quick Launch. The difference would be that each line of text (the categories) would open a group bar of icons.
I think this would be much easier to implement than hiding the native icons would help resolve the issue of using up space on the taskbar, while still allowing for "at a glace" evaluation of how many programs are truly running.
How about group categories? If we can group the groups into categories it would be possible to create a single icon that opens multiple groups of apps. Less clutter on the taskbar. Personally I don't mind the apps opening the original thumbnails because that allows me to quickly assess what's actually running and what is not running. Functionality I'm envisioning would look similar to the old Quick Launch. The difference would be that each line of text (the categories) would open a group bar of icons.
I think this would be much easier to implement than hiding the native icons would help resolve the issue of using up space on the taskbar, while still allowing for "at a glace" evaluation of how many programs are truly running.