I would like to know if it is possible to minimise my python program to the system tray.
Basically what it does is at every hour it takes a screenshot but I don't want it to stay on the task bar taking space. Could I make it go to the system tray area next to the clock but keep it running?
I am not using tkinter or anything like that.
As opposed to having the program running continuously, why don't you use your system's scheduler? (Cron under *nix, Task Scheduler under windows). There might be a bit more overhead since it has to spin up Python each time, but it would be easier than hooking up a notification icon.
Since you refer to it as the task bar, I assume Windows. To have a notification icon, you would have to have a hidden window, with a running message pump, so Windows has somewhere to send messages to for the icon.
So, in short, much simpler just running a scheduled job.
Minimize python to system tray in Windows (Vista)