To seize the Taskbar move your mouse over the upper edge of the Taskbar until the pointer turns into a double-arrow. You can then drag the edge of the Taskbar and make room for, say, two rows of running programs. 

To hide the Taskbar right-click an empty spot of the Taskbar and choose Properties. Select Auto Hide. This will hide the Taskbar from view. Moving the mouse to the edge of the screen where the Taskbar is located will make the Taskbar slide into view. It will disappear again once you are done using it.

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