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Posts tagged "taskbar"

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Microsoft fixes latest Windows 11 update – but some unlucky users have found their taskbar is now broken
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Microsoft has quietly rolled out a fix for a recent Windows 11 patch (KB5039302, a preview update) in a bid to correct a bug that caused some PCs to enter a reboot loop, a problem so serious that the update was paused.

However, this new fix has led to more issues, as there are now reports of the taskbar not working properly.

Microsoft is aware of the taskbar glitches plaguing some Windows 11 users – in fact, the June 2024 preview update may lead to the taskbar not loading altogether. It's claimed that this issue is only “expected to occur if you are using a Windows N edition” or if you manually disable the Media Features toggle in the Control Panel. 

Previous to this new problem, some Windows 11 users were experiencing reboot loops as mentioned, making their system potentially unusable. This only appears to have affected machines where nested virtualization is enabled. As the name implies, this feature allows users to run virtual machines, and it's utilized more in business and enterprise settings than by your everyday consumer.

The only fix discovered for the previous 'reboot hell' bug is to manually remove the update from the Advanced Startup menu, we're told. 

It's worth underlining that Windows 11 update KB5039302 is optional, so you can avoid it altogether, and it's probably best to do so for now – even though most folks won't be affected by the new glitch. Later in July, this update will become the full release for Windows 11, at which point you can't avoid it (for long, anyway). By then, hopefully Microsoft will have fixed this new bug, too.

The problems continue for Windows 11

Microsoft has been having some serious issues with Windows 11 throughout the first half of 2024. As well as the increased level of advertising – with the likes of Xbox Game Pass ads now blighting the Settings app – and instability problems, there's also been a bug with the operating system telling users they've changed their location. Another recent bug has led to distorted videos in Google Chrome and Microsoft's own Edge browser as well.

So yes, Windows 11 hasn't had the smoothest ride this year, or indeed since it was launched. To see the taskbar, of all things, not loading in or working correctly is certainly an oddity, even if that issue is still far preferable to a PC which is stuck in boot loop hell. We'll keep an eye on this one and update you when Microsoft fixes this new bug.

Via Windows Latest

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Microsoft admits recent Windows 10 updates messed up the taskbar for some users – but a fix is coming
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Microsoft has acknowledged that there’s a bug introduced by recent Windows 10 updates that can break a piece of taskbar functionality – but the good news is a fix is in the works.

The problem is evident for some Windows 10 users when right clicking on a pinned app on the taskbar, when instead of seeing the usual context-sensitive jump list menu – that allows access to common features, like opening recent files – they get something entirely useless.

What Windows 10 produces instead is the ‘Open with…’ menu (that facilitates choosing which app you want to open a file with). That’s not only unhelpful but also confusing, frankly, though Windows Latest, which spotted this, notes that the bug only affects a small set of Windows 10 users – and it only happens with some apps, not all of them.

So, this isn’t something you’re likely to encounter, but if you do, it’s a rather annoying issue. Furthermore, it affects a wide range of recent updates for Windows 10 – not just the latest June cumulative update, but also the May cumulative update (and that month’s optional update), and the optional update for April too.

Windows Latest reports that Microsoft has pinpointed a fix and the company has indicated that the resolution will be included in a future update for Window 10 22H2.

Analysis: A quick fix, with any luck

Hopefully, with the fix identified, implementing it shouldn’t be a difficult task and we might see the cure in next month’s cumulative update. Indeed, if that’s the case, we’ll actually get it before the July update, as it will be in the optional update for June, which is a preview of the former. That should be here in not much more than a week, in fact – though there’s no guarantee the fix won’t take longer, of course.

In case you missed it, what’s interesting with Windows 10 is that Microsoft is not just fixing and patching the OS, but is actively developing it again, adding new features and recently resurrecting the Beta channel to test them. That’s despite the End of Life date for Windows 10 coming ever closer – the OS runs out of support in October 2025, in case you’d forgotten. So it won’t be that long before you need to start exploring the options you have in that regard.

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Is this the worst idea Microsoft has ever had for Windows 11? Ad-related taskbar button concept makes us really nervous
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Windows 11 could conceivably get what surely everyone would regard as an unwelcome addition, or at least a very controversial change in terms of a potential new button for the taskbar that’s been uncovered in the innards of the desktop OS.

Apparently, Microsoft might just be mulling a ‘recommended’ button for the taskbar, and the theory is that it could surface various suggestions and thinly veiled adverts.

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The workings for such a button were discovered by well-known Microsoft leaker Albacore on X (formerly Twitter).

As Albacore makes clear, the button has had all its related strings (in the background) stripped from production builds, as if Microsoft’s team working on the interface wants to keep this as low-profile on the radar as possible.

As the leaker points out, the worry is that Microsoft is really thinking about making ‘suggestions,’ or nudges, recommendations, or whatever you want to call them, an integral part of the desktop, with a whole dedicated button on the taskbar.

Albacore notes that the description of the button is that it ‘controls visibility of recommendations on the taskbar’ and it’s filed under the term ‘taskbar sites,’ so the leaker theorizes that perhaps we could get website suggestions right on the taskbar, with the button’s icon changing to be the favicon of any given recommended site.

We’d further guess that maybe the idea would be to make these context-sensitive, so suggestions given would depend on what you’re doing in Windows 11 at the time – but that really is just guesswork.

Person using a Windows 11 laptop looking annoyed

(Image credit: Marjan Apostolovic / Shutterstock)

Analysis: Paying twice for Windows 11 isn’t fair

As Albacore observes, we can hope that this might just be a piece of work from times gone past which has been abandoned, but references to it are still hanging around in the background of Windows 11. It’s entirely possible nothing will come of this, in short, and even if Microsoft is currently exploring the idea, it might ditch the button before it even comes to testing.

Granted, even if a recommended taskbar button is realized, we’d assume that Windows 11 will come with the option to turn it off – but it’s still a worrying hint about the direction Microsoft is at least considering here with a future update. A dedicated button like this would be a huge move in the direction of what might be termed soft advertising (or nudging).

Sadly, a further recent development as highlighted by another leaker on X, PhantomOfEarth, is that the ‘Recommended’ section in Windows 11’s Start menu could be getting something called promoted apps.

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These would be apps Microsoft is actively promoting – there’s no bones about the advertising here, this isn’t badging or nudging – and again, it’s a dangerous move that very much runs the risk of annoying Windows 11 users. (Albeit it can be switched off – and remember, this is only in testing so far).

Given all this, we very much get the feeling that advertising-focused recommendations along these lines is something Microsoft is seriously considering doing more of. And given the past history of the software giant, that’s not surprising.

If you recall, recommended websites in the Start menu has long been a controversial topic – Microsoft previously toyed with the idea, abandoned it, but then brought it back in again last year to the disbelief of many folks (ourselves included).

Microsoft has been ushering in various other veiled ads for its own services, too, such as so-called ‘notification badging’ prompting you to sign up for a Microsoft Account (or finish configuring it) on the Start menu, for example (which rolled out with Moment 3 last year). Another example is prodding folks to use OneDrive for backing up their files, or the new Outlook app with ads for many users.

As we’ve discussed in-depth elsewhere, the pushy advertising around Microsoft’s Edge browser and Bing search has been taken to new and unacceptable levels in recent times.

How about we abandon this line of thinking entirely, Microsoft? Just stop with the incessant promotion of your own services, or indeed possibly third-party services or websites, within Windows 11. This is an operating system we, the users, pay for – so we shouldn’t have to suffer adverts in various parts of the Windows interface.

Either make Windows completely free and ad-supported, or charge for it, with no ads, suggestions, nudges, or other promotional tomfoolery to be seen anywhere in the OS. Or give us a choice of either route – but don’t make us pay twice for Windows 11, once with an initial lump sum fee to buy the OS, and then again with further ongoing monetization by way of a constant drip-feed of ads here, there and everywhere.

Via Neowin

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Windows 11 users rejoice – the case of the disappearing taskbar has been solved
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Earlier this month, some Windows 11 users noticed that their taskbar was behaving strangely and disappearing following a recent update – and it looks like Microsoft has now released a fix for the annoying bug.

A new preview build has been released in the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program this week that looks like it’s bringing fixes for multiple reported issues, including the taskbar problem, which saw it appearing as a blank space for some users, before slowly reloading. 

The Windows Insider Program is a Microsoft-run community for professionals and Windows enthusiasts who would like the most up-to-date information about new developments, and the ability to try new features and versions of Windows in order to provide feedback ahead of their release to the wider user base. 

BetaNews also writes of another taskbar-related error that’s apparently been plaguing users for weeks: whenever they would load Windows 11, it would take several seconds for the taskbar to appear. 

These sorts of task-bar related issues are annoying for a number of reasons, the biggest of which is that it becomes a lot harder to start and run applications, and limits the user’s ability to actually engage with the OS, since the Windows 11 taskbar is such an essential part of the operating system’s user interface. 

A woman sitting at a computer and smiling

(Image credit: Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock)

The nature of the Beta Channel update

The newly-created fix is only available in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels of the Windows Insider Program for now. This means that Microsoft is still testing and collecting feedback about the build, and it will probably take a couple of weeks before it makes its way to the Stable Channel (through which most users get updates that are in their final iteration and deemed ready for release by Microsoft). BetaNews speculates that this release could fall on March’s Patch Day which is March 12, 2024.

At the moment, the build that’s currently available in the Beta Channel doesn't introduce any major new features, and the focus of this update is specifically the fixes for the reported issues above. Other updates in the preview build, according to an official Windows Insider Blog post, include a new badge for Widget notifications to notify users when there are unread Widget notifications, and higher quality Widget icon images that should appear sharper. 

While Windows 11’s taskbar problems did take a little while to be addressed by Microsoft, and seems the vocal backlash finally got the company to spring into action, it’s good that the problems seemed to have been finally fixed. If you absolutely cannot stand the faulty taskbar behavior, you can join the Windows Insider Program (which is free), and then join the Beta Channel.

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Windows 11 with no taskbar? A crucial part of Microsoft’s OS has gone missing for some thanks to new update
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Windows 11’s latest cumulative update comes with an odd bug, it seems, one that reportedly causes the taskbar to disappear – or rather, to become blank space.

The February patch (KB5034765) for Windows 11 23H2 (and 22H2) has seen a number of complaints from users who have witnessed their desktop being affected by this apparent glitch, which as you can imagine is pretty frustrating.

As Neowin flagged up, there are reports on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub and the Reddit mega-thread on said patch from folks who have been hit by this problem.

One Redditor wrote: “Yay, both my Win11 23h2 workstations have no taskbar after updates and a reboot… have to kill explorer and relaunch.”

Somebody replied to that: “This is happening to me as well I thought something broke, but removing KB5034765 resolved it for me. I don’t even see explorer.exe in my running tasks when that happened, though.”

There are a number of other reports, as mentioned, with those affected not able to launch their taskbar pinned apps (as the icons aren’t there, of course), or see the system tray, access Quick Settings and so on. The basic ability to see your running apps and switch between them on the bar is obviously missing in action, too.

Analysis: Have a little patience?

We should note that in the interest of balance, a lot of folks on that Reddit thread are saying they had no issues with KB5034765. It’s not clear how widespread the vanishing taskbar gremlin might be, and Microsoft has not acknowledged the problem yet in its known issues – but we get the feeling it has a limited impact, looking at the overall feedback on this patch.

As noted above, the only solution seems to be uninstalling the February cumulative update, which certainly works to return the taskbar to its normal state.

The slight twist here is that this problem has been seen before, and another Redditor offers up a theory as follows: “The taskbar missing thing is part of the EU policy updates. Taskbar is not showing for up to 10 minutes, it’s normal and has been in the Release Preview Channel for 2-3 months.”

This makes some sense, as there’s some heavy duty work on the taskbar going on with those EU regulation-related changes, like unhooking Bing from the search box on the bar.

So, in theory the taskbar may reappear soon after applying the update – maybe. But we presume given the number of affected folks, with no one else observing said reappearance that we can see, there could be more to this issue than merely this. Unless everyone hitting the snag is uninstalling KB5034765 pretty sharpish, which seems unlikely across the board.

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Microsoft slowly but surely admits it was wrong about the Windows 11 taskbar
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Windows 11 just got its first preview build in the new Canary channel – the earliest test versions of the OS going forward, possibly representing the foundations of Windows 12 – and while nothing much of note was introduced on the face of it, a hidden gem has been unearthed.

Twitter-based leaker @PhantomOfEarth pointed out @XenoPanther’s discovery of a bunch of strings tucked away under the hood in build 25314 referring to taskbar grouping.

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What does this mean? Well, it’s a tantalizing hint that as previously rumored, Microsoft is going to bring back the ‘never combine’ option when it comes to grouping apps on the taskbar.

In other words, rather than having multiple instances of the same app automatically grouped together on the taskbar (stacked vertically), you can have each of them separated into individual entries (horizontally) on the bar.

Elsewhere in build 25314, there are some minor tweaks, the most significant of those being a change to File Explorer, namely the addition of Access Keys. These are single keystroke shortcuts labeled by a single letter in the context menu of File Explorer – simply hit the relevant key to swiftly execute the command in question.

Furthermore, those using Azure Active Directory will now see recommendations for files they might find useful or relevant at the top of File Explorer Home.

Analysis: It seems like Microsoft is finally listening on the taskbar

When cooking up Windows 11, Microsoft made some mystifying decisions with the interface, leaving out some core bits of functionality seen in Windows 10, most notably with the taskbar. The ability to never combine (stack up) running instances of the same app was one of those features that got dropped.

To see a glimmer of hope that it might be inbound for the future, then, is certainly welcome. Although we still question exactly why it has taken so long for Microsoft to look at implementing this. And we must remember, this is only tinkering in the background in early testing for now – eventually it’s possible nothing could come of it, though we’re trying not to entertain that possibility, frankly. The lack of this feature is a deal-breaker for us, personally, in Windows 11.

As for the other notable taskbar omissions Microsoft made with Windows 11, drag-and-drop support was returned to the bar not so long ago. And in the future, we may also see the resurrection of the ability to move the taskbar from the bottom of the screen to the sides or top. (Currently, it’s locked down at the foot of the screen for Windows 11 users, whereas those on Windows 10 can move it around, of course).

So, it seems that Microsoft is slowly rethinking and reversing course on its taskbar philosophy with Windows 11, and frankly, it’s about time. Especially given all the feedback and voices shouting about these bits of functionality being stripped away for no good reason – not that we can think of, anyway. And don’t give us any excuses about streamlining or simplifying the UI, these can be options in Settings that no one who’s bothered about this sort of thing ever has to look at.

In short, Microsoft, please keep going along this path of reversal, because, you know, we’d like to get back to a Windows 10 level of functionality with the taskbar, if that’s okay?

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Windows 11 update brings Bing AI to the taskbar… but implodes with boot failures on some PCs
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Windows 11’s major new update (known as ‘Moment 2’) has been released as a preview version, but it has a dangerous side-effect for some folks who have customized the interface of the OS – a bug that causes the PC to fail to boot.

That’s a big, big problem, of course, and Microsoft has flagged it as a known issue (spotted by Bleeping Computer) in the support document for the preview cumulative update (KB5022913).

Microsoft observes that some third-party UI customization apps can cause errors with Explorer.exe that could repeat in a loop. That’s File Explorer for the uninitiated and it’s the central pillar of the Windows 11 interface (the very folders and files you work with on the desktop).

The company names ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack as the known apps that delve into the wonderful world of Windows customization which are affected. Although it does note that StartAllBack users running version 3.5.6 (or newer) may avoid the bug.

Microsoft warns: “These types of apps often use unsupported methods to achieve their customization and as a result can have unintended results on your Windows device.”

Analysis: Not so magic Moments for some

It’s not our fault, in other words, and in this case, we can give Microsoft some leeway. The whole set of gremlins might well be wrapped up in how said customization apps work, and as they are niche cases, they could have slipped through the testing net so far.

We must of course also remember that this cumulative update is still in preview, meaning it’s optional and as with anything still in the testing phase, there may be unexpected problems.

In short, you might be keen to get the Bing AI on your taskbar, or Phone Link for iOS, or any of the other major features that Moment 2 introduces, but be aware that you could run into issues here and there.

We don’t know if any other customization apps might face similar boot-related issues, although there’s no evidence yet that this is the case. That said, Stardock, which makes the popular Start11, has noted on Twitter that KB5022913 can cause some odd behavior with taskbar colors, but only on secondary monitors, so that’s a very minor glitch compared to boot failure. Start11 is getting an update to fix this, too.

For now, the best thing to do for anyone running a third-party custom UI might be to steer clear of the new Windows 11 update until it leaves preview, just to be safe.

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Windows 11’s ChatGPT-powered Bing AI taskbar is nothing more than a pointless ad
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Microsoft released a new Windows 11 update on Wednesday, March 1, and all everyone is talking about is how the update emphasises putting artificial intelligence first… and how it falls short of that rather severely. 

The AI-powered search box is now set up in the taskbar by default, which may or may not be helpful depending on your disposition towards AI and ‘helpful’ chatbots. The update to the taskbar is amongst many other improved features that are packaged in with the recent Windows 11 update, so it’ll be hard to avoid or ignore if you’re not a fan of ChatGPT. 

ChatGPT is the AI-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI that allows users to interact with the bot and ask it to do anything from brainstorm recipes, breakdown complex ideas, writing and edit large copies of text or just having a little chat. The bot uses machine learning to analyze prompts given by users and respond using data input by the user and information from its database. Microsoft launched its collaboration with ChatGPT early last month and has had its share of meltdowns and inaccuracies since then.

It’s a little too early to get a grasp on how successful this new Windows 11 update has been with integrating ChatGPT-powered AI search, but so far it doesn't seem like the taskbar update has been well received.  In fact, I would argue it’s just a heavy-handed advertisement for Bing, Microsoft’s largely unloved search engine, and takes away consumer autonomy to decide whether or not they want to dabble in AI. This is not to bash ChatGPT and its fans, but more a finger wag at the mass implementation that takes away the ability to choose.

Say you were a sceptic or someone who didn’t know much about ChatGPT or Bing AI, you don’t really have a choice on whether or not you want access to Bing AI and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get rid of its addition to your Windows 11 desktop.

The announcement from Microsoft gives off the impression that the entire search experience on Windows 11 will now be supercharged by AI, but that’s far from the case. 

There’s no quick search in the taskbar that’ll spit out intelligently thought-out results. Fans or curious users looking to use Bing’s AI search engine don’t have integration within Windows 11 in the capacity seemingly promised by yesterday's announcement. The scale with which AI integration has been promised compared to what we've actually got doesn't match up.

Instead, users now have the ability to launch Bing’s new chatbot without actually having to type ‘bing.com’ into a web browser first. That’s it. The blog post says users have “ the amazing capabilities of the new AI-powered Bing directly into the taskbar “ which is not true at all. You get a banner for Bing on the Windows search page and two prompts to help suggest what to do when you click on any of the related buttons and get whisked off to Microsoft's Edge browser, in what feels like a calculated attempt to force more people to use it. 

Once Microsoft Edge is open, you can use Bing as you please if you’re registered. I was taken to the login/registration page since I was yet to make an account, but it‘s incredibly annoying to be sold the idea of having access to Bing AI’s chatbot from the comfort of your immediate desktop and instead being taken to a new program and webpage instead. Windows isn’t doing anything AI related, since Microsoft hasn’t added AI to search on Windows in the new feature drop as you may think, which makes the ChatGPT-powered version of Bing in Windows 11 just feel like an empty advertisement. 

Analysis: Who is this for? 

This definitely feels like a manifestation of something a lot of people were worried about when Microsoft announced its partnership with ChatGPT and implemented it into Bing: essentially, another way for Microsoft to try to force people into using Bing and Edge in favour of the software they actually use. 

We’ve all seen the pathetic little banners that come up on Edge while you’re setting up your PC and trying to download Chrome or Firefox, and this definitely feels like Microsoft has put the metaphorical foot down and made sure that if you want to use your taskbar search or try out Bing AI, you’re going to have to do it on their terms. 

Regardless of how you feel about AI chatbots or just AI technology in general, there’s no denying the update to the taskbar is less than useful. There are a lot of more interesting, and useful feature updates that have been overshadowed by the glaring blip of the Bing AI taskbar update.  

The lack of a clear opt-out option does seem to solidify the idea that not only is the ‘shortcut to Bing AI’ here to stay, but it’s only to be accessed on Microsoft’s terms.

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Microsoft admits it won’t be fixing Windows 11’s taskbar for a while
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When it launched, Windows 11 came with some major changes – and it looks like one of the most unpopular tweaks is here to stay, with Microsoft admitting that adding missing features to the taskbar simply isn’t a priority.

As Windows Latest reports, Microsoft has revealed that some of the biggest requests from users won’t be appearing any time soon.

The taskbar, which usually runs along the bottom of your screen, has been an important part of Windows since Windows 95, and with Windows 11, Microsoft decided to radically redesign it, including rebuilding it from scratch.

This left the Windows 11 taskbar missing some big, useful, features that people have been using for decades. One of the most noticeable features missing in action was the ability to drag and drop files or applications to the taskbar, either to pin them there for easy access, or to open them in an app already pinned to the taskbar.

This seemingly little feature was actually really useful, so many people were upset to find it missing in Windows 11. Microsoft has stated that drag and drop is coming to Windows 11 with the 22H2 major update later this year.

However, in a Windows Insider video, which you can view below, the Windows 11 development team revealed that other features won’t be coming any time soon.

Restricted movement

Another big complaint about Windows 11’s taskbar is the fact that you can’t reposition it. Many people liked to move the taskbar in previous versions of Windows to the side of the screen, or even to the top. With Windows 11, it’s stuck at the bottom, and that’s not going to change for a while, at least.

This is because, according to the Windows 11 development team, the animation flow of the Start menu in Windows 11, can’t handle a different taskbar position just yet. “Think about having the taskbar on the right, all of a sudden the reflow and the work all of the apps or Start menu have to do,” the team admitted.

Because the taskbar has been rebuilt from scratch, Microsoft is prioritizing adding features such as drag and drop, which involves extensive testing from volunteers. Sadly, it seems like the company doesn’t think moving the taskbar is as important.

Analysis: unfinished business

Man upset using a laptop

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

While it’s understandable that Microsoft has more important features to add to Windows 11, the fact that it launched with a taskbar missing so many features is pretty remarkable. Being able to move the taskbar gives people a greater level of freedom when configuring Windows to behave the way they prefer.

So, by not including this feature, there will be a large number of people who are annoyed and frustrated by Windows 11, and it gives the feeling that the operating system launched in an unfinished state, which is something our Windows 11 review pointed out.

It’s no surprise, then, that Windows 11 is struggling to get people to upgrade as fast as Windows 10 had managed.

If Windows 11 had been open source, like Linux, then we’d wager someone would have already added the ability – one of the benefits of being open source. Thankfully, there are also tools such as Start11 from Stardock which adds extra functionality to both the Start menu and taskbar – including the ability to change the taskbar’s position – which Microsoft is seemingly struggling with.

This isn’t the first time teams like Stardock have stepped in to fix unpopular changes to Windows – we saw a plethora of third-party apps that brought the Start menu back to Windows 8 after Microsoft unwisely dropped it.

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Microsoft admits it won’t be fixing Windows 11’s taskbar for a while
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When it launched, Windows 11 came with some major changes – and it looks like one of the most unpopular tweaks is here to stay, with Microsoft admitting that adding missing features to the taskbar simply isn’t a priority.

As Windows Latest reports, Microsoft has revealed that some of the biggest requests from users won’t be appearing any time soon.

The taskbar, which usually runs along the bottom of your screen, has been an important part of Windows since Windows 95, and with Windows 11, Microsoft decided to radically redesign it, including rebuilding it from scratch.

This left the Windows 11 taskbar missing some big, useful, features that people have been using for decades. One of the most noticeable features missing in action was the ability to drag and drop files or applications to the taskbar, either to pin them there for easy access, or to open them in an app already pinned to the taskbar.

This seemingly little feature was actually really useful, so many people were upset to find it missing in Windows 11. Microsoft has stated that drag and drop is coming to Windows 11 with the 22H2 major update later this year.

However, in a Windows Insider video, which you can view below, the Windows 11 development team revealed that other features won’t be coming any time soon.

Restricted movement

Another big complaint about Windows 11’s taskbar is the fact that you can’t reposition it. Many people liked to move the taskbar in previous versions of Windows to the side of the screen, or even to the top. With Windows 11, it’s stuck at the bottom, and that’s not going to change for a while, at least.

This is because, according to the Windows 11 development team, the animation flow of the Start menu in Windows 11, can’t handle a different taskbar position just yet. “Think about having the taskbar on the right, all of a sudden the reflow and the work all of the apps or Start menu have to do,” the team admitted.

Because the taskbar has been rebuilt from scratch, Microsoft is prioritizing adding features such as drag and drop, which involves extensive testing from volunteers. Sadly, it seems like the company doesn’t think moving the taskbar is as important.

Analysis: unfinished business

Man upset using a laptop

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

While it’s understandable that Microsoft has more important features to add to Windows 11, the fact that it launched with a taskbar missing so many features is pretty remarkable. Being able to move the taskbar gives people a greater level of freedom when configuring Windows to behave the way they prefer.

So, by not including this feature, there will be a large number of people who are annoyed and frustrated by Windows 11, and it gives the feeling that the operating system launched in an unfinished state, which is something our Windows 11 review pointed out.

It’s no surprise, then, that Windows 11 is struggling to get people to upgrade as fast as Windows 10 had managed.

If Windows 11 had been open source, like Linux, then we’d wager someone would have already added the ability – one of the benefits of being open source. Thankfully, there are also tools such as Start11 from Stardock which adds extra functionality to both the Start menu and taskbar – including the ability to change the taskbar’s position – which Microsoft is seemingly struggling with.

This isn’t the first time teams like Stardock have stepped in to fix unpopular changes to Windows – we saw a plethora of third-party apps that brought the Start menu back to Windows 8 after Microsoft unwisely dropped it.

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