>I find it a waste of space. There are a couple of items that cover about 1/7 of the height. The remainder (6/7) is empty
>
>Why not consider adding a couple of icons (with a popup menu like) to the top icon bar family. If space needed some descriptions can be dropped (New, Search, Calendar, Folder, Setup - the icons are pretty self explanatory + the mouseOver has a ToolTip)

As I mentioned, the left side will receive more options.