I’m not really sure if this feature is part of KDE SC 4.8, but it’s so cool and I feel like I have to write about it here :)
See the screenshot above? KDE’s default taskbar is now more powerful than ever! Right clicking on a taskbar item now gives you the ability to start a new instance of that application, and add a launcher of that application to the taskbar when it’s not running.
I know, it’s pretty similar to what Windows 7 offers, except (IMO) it’s waay cooler. In Windows 7, if you pinned an application to the taskbar, it will only show an icon, without the application name/window title, no matter the state of the application is (running or not). In KDE, well, you guessed it, if the application is not currently running, an icon will be added to the taskbar, and it will disappear when it’s launched.
If you really want Windows 7′s taskbar in KDE, you can install this plugin :)