Like many, I tend to keep my most commonly used application launchers on the taskbar. An improvement I would like to see is the ability to stretch the taskbar to more than a single line in height, as getting the taskbar to hold the applets, launchers and other information I desire soon runs the content to greater than a single line can hold.
Just as the desktop management applet scales to a second line when the size of the taskbar permits, the ability to have smaller icons in a multi-line taskbar would make more efficient use of the space the taskbar makes available.
Having to scroll through several levels of menus to reach applications is at best tedious, and as I like to keep the number of desktop icons to a minimum, the quick launch capability provided by the taskbar makes life so much easier.
Extra bling, fade effects and animations to my mind do nothing to make a desktop more user friendly, and only get in the way of efficiency.
Regards,
Morrie.