Win7 taskbar

[systemcrash]

I am running a program called 7 stacks, It can stack a bunch of shortcuts together http://alastria.com/ to make a easy launch folder and when pinned to the taskbar in win 7 i great for adding alot of shortcuts without taking up to much space.

The only downside im having is occasionally it takes a while for the stack to show, during multitasking so the one click shortcut to my sandbox web browser takes longer to load then running through explorer and finding the file.

Can i simply make the same taskbar shortcuts without the program i know its easy to link folders without the program but i would like firefox and thunderbird to be stacked together rather then side by side so i can fit more shortcuts onto the taskbar

[Sope]

I also use 7stacks and I agree that there is noticable slight delay when opening a stack but I've never experienced anything anywhere near as excessive as you describe?

There are a couple of similar programs available but I believe they operate in a similar way, i.e by running an exe whenever you click on them, so do tend to share the same slight delay on opening.
May be worth taking a look at these though:-
Standalonestack
MenuApp
Jumplist Launcher

Another alternative may be to use one of the many dock's available or maybe a DIY launcher