You've just convinced me to put my task bar to the left side of my screen. I noticed that Philipp Lenssen has it too, but I never tried. It's optimized for Web browsing and document editing, especially on a low-resolution screen. Thanks for the idea! - Jérôme

Oh nice! A friend of mine also convinced me. It's a very simple way to gain space on a laptop screen. (But you'll probably be a little bit confused at the beginning ;-) ) - stanjourdan

Not so much, actually, because I keep my taskbar as light as possible: no icon beside the clock, only 2-3 quick launch app and rarely more than 4 running apps (but many tabs in the browser). - Jérôme