I have Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium x64 installed under Boot Camp 4.0 in OS X Lion (10.7.2) on the 2011 Mac mini and it's also hooked into Parallels Desktop 7 as a VM when I need it in OS X.
An interesting problem I've noticed lately is that when I'm in Boot Camp any window that gets maximized will maximize past the Taskbar and therefore cover the contents of the bottom of the window. This behaviour applies not only to maximized windows but even windows that are set to open at the bottom of the screen but usually stick to the Taskbar as a boundary (i.e. run prompt). This has become irritating as I use Download Statusbar in Firefox as an example and I can't access the downloads if they're covered by the Taskbar without hiding it first.
The reason I brought up Parallels Desktop earlier is because the Taskbar acts normally in VM state. Windows will adhere to the Taskbar as a boundary and everything works as expected. Only when I'm in Boot Camp does it ignore the Taskbar as a boundary and maximize the window to the edge of the screen.
I've tried a number of solutions Google has given me including unlocking/locking the Taskbar, moving the Taskbar around, modifying some Registry entries but nothing has worked. What did end up working as a last resort was reinstalling the Boot Camp partition but the problem came back later on.
Anyone here have some insight as to what may be going on with the crazy Taskbar and possibly a way to fix it?
Best Answer
Problem finally solved. I read your article, and like you, I have been searching the internet for a solution. Your article inspired me to try and uninstall Parallels Tools, as I thought it might have set up some strange settings. And after I uninstalled Parallels Tools, all was fine again. My windows are once again maximizing correctly. This is bad news however, as I also want to use Parallels Tools when I run in OSX. Guess I have to go back to VMware Fusion or hope a newer version of Parallels Tools will fix it.