Large virtual desktop and taskbar

[Harry Putnam]

I like running with a large virtual desktop.  Always set at
1600x1200.  Also like having a task bar along the bottom and the
panel up the right side..  But because of the monster desktop, when
ever I iconize an application and it goes into the task bar.  The
icon will fill all available space.  Then shrink if another is added.

That means I might have an icon 17 inches long or two 8.5 inches
long... etc.  That is not a very handy situation.  I'd prefer to
limit their size to say 3/4inchs.  

The setup tool didn't seem to provide any kind of setting along that
line.  How to handle this?