"When the situation that calls for the notification has passed, call Shell_NotifyIcon(NIM_REMOVE)"
How does the program know when this has happened? Supposedly they want to hide the icon after the notification is dismissed - which you'd think should be handled by the OS which is displaying the notification and handling the dismissal. I still see why they'd want to do it the original way (letting the OS manage the display of the icon). Otherwise they have to try work out when the notification is dismissed (perhaps there is a message?)
[I'm assuming the notification is based on a condition, like "there is an unread email message" or "your battery is low". -Raymond]