Windows 7 "DUH" moment

Did I just never notice this before?  I have Windows 7.  I had to research how to add the "recent items" of my most recent documents to my start menu, and that was one of the first things I did.  This is the list of items off to the right of the start menu, where there's shortcuts to Games, Documents, Music, Computer, Printers, Control Panel, etc. But today I noticed that on the left of the start menu, where your programs are listed,  there's arrows beside my Word, Notepad, and a few other icons.  And if you move the mouse to the arrow, then a list of recent items pops out for each progam.  Geez!  Have they been there all the time and I never noticed????  This is even more useful than the "Recent Items" thingy I've always used, because that one lumps all the files together, like Excel and notepad and Word, and it keeps only the most recent 10 files there.  Now I have access to the last 10 documents opened from Notepad, Word, and Excel.  Often, I'll want an Excel file and it's long since disappeared from my Recent list and then I have to go searching for it.  Duh, now it's usually right there list since I don't open that many Excel files.  I imagine you Windows 7 users are wanting to reach through your screen and pop me upside the head for never noticing this before.  But if you're like me, seeing only what you're used to seeing, then maybe you never noticed this nifty feature before.  Apparently this is called a Jump List.  Color me oblivious.