Spinning Ring (formerly hourglass) always spinning

Hello,

I believe that this is more of a curiosity than a problem, but...

Pre-vista, the when you saw the hourglass, it meant that you were supposed
to wait for the hourglass to go away before you continued whatever you were
doing. The hourglass has now been replaced by that spinning ring thing.

Whenever I move the mouse pointer down to the taskbar, it always turns into
the spinning ring. It doesn't seem to hold anything up, but is this a cause
for concern? Is there some process going on that I should wait to stop,
before continuing? Back in the days of the hourglass, conventional wisdom
would have suggested so.

Thanks,

smackedass