anyone else had a problem with the taskbar in XP NEVER wanting to stay ontop? it's so annoying. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of application I start either, %99 of the time any app will appear ...

The date only appears if you make it a two row taskbar. Unlock the taskbar, then size it down to a single row, it should disappear. Ya, the Day/Time display didn't expand the task bar, it's the other ...