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I'm still using a Windows XP style task bar which is about the same height in total but two rows. The bottom rows has the currently open applications with the

I'm still using a Windows XP style task bar which is about the same height in total but two rows. The bottom rows has the currently open applications with the begining of the window title directly visible, the top row has a list of small icons for shortcuts to often used programs (maybe thirty or so). I find this incredibly more productive than the redesigned taskbar with its huge square buttons and mixing of shortcuts and current windows.

mkl 5y ago
It sounds like you're unhappy with the taskbar's defaults but didn't look into changing it? You can make the buttons small and show the titles (in "Taskbar settings") and make the taskbar bigger so it has multiple rows (uncheck "Lock the taskbar" and drag the edge further out).
- johnday 5y ago
  The person you're responding to has changed the defaults. For what it's worth, Windows 11 supports none of these things, which is incredibly frustrating. I have the icons set small, which is good because the taskbar is smaller - but you cannot have two rows, nor can you have titlebar text available on the buttons "long-form style" as was an option in Windows 10. Additionally, there is no way to ungroup items like Win10 had, so you have only one button per application rather than per window, as I would prefer.
  - mkl 5y ago
    > The person you're responding to has changed the defaults. Hm. Are you sure? Their description of the different behaviour of the top and bottom rows doesn't sound possible, so I assumed their taskbar was a third party one or used third party extension that adds features. The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description.
    - jobigoud 5y ago
      Yes I changed the default. "Use small taskbar buttons", "Never combine taskbar buttons", To get the second small row on top I use the "toolbar" function pointed to QuickLaunch folder full of shortcuts. I do use a third party program (Open Shell Menu) to replace the Windows start menu with the one from Win 7.
    - WorldMaker 5y ago
      > The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description. Yes, this is exactly what all the complaints are about in this thread: all of the customization supported by the Taskbar since Windows 95 has disappeared in Windows 11 Insider Builds. It only supports the bottom of the screen. It no longer supports drag and drop (what the article here is specifically complaining about). It doesn't support "Quick Launch" and most other "additional toolbars". (That admittedly haven't been well supported since XP anyway, but that's not particularly here nor there.) It sounds like a complete rewrite where they didn't bother to implement even a third of the old features.
    - johnday 5y ago
      > The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description. Alas, it is. There's a short thread on Twitter about it here: https://twitter.com/dixonary_/status/1409852434609020933?s=20 https://twitter.com/dixonary_/status/1409852434609020933?s=2...

mkl 5y ago

It sounds like you're unhappy with the taskbar's defaults but didn't look into changing it? You can make the buttons small and show the titles (in "Taskbar settings") and make the taskbar bigger so it has multiple rows (uncheck "Lock the taskbar" and drag the edge further out).

johnday 5y ago
The person you're responding to has changed the defaults. For what it's worth, Windows 11 supports none of these things, which is incredibly frustrating. I have the icons set small, which is good because the taskbar is smaller - but you cannot have two rows, nor can you have titlebar text available on the buttons "long-form style" as was an option in Windows 10. Additionally, there is no way to ungroup items like Win10 had, so you have only one button per application rather than per window, as I would prefer.
- mkl 5y ago
  > The person you're responding to has changed the defaults. Hm. Are you sure? Their description of the different behaviour of the top and bottom rows doesn't sound possible, so I assumed their taskbar was a third party one or used third party extension that adds features. The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description.
  - jobigoud 5y ago
    Yes I changed the default. "Use small taskbar buttons", "Never combine taskbar buttons", To get the second small row on top I use the "toolbar" function pointed to QuickLaunch folder full of shortcuts. I do use a third party program (Open Shell Menu) to replace the Windows start menu with the one from Win 7.
  - WorldMaker 5y ago
    > The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description. Yes, this is exactly what all the complaints are about in this thread: all of the customization supported by the Taskbar since Windows 95 has disappeared in Windows 11 Insider Builds. It only supports the bottom of the screen. It no longer supports drag and drop (what the article here is specifically complaining about). It doesn't support "Quick Launch" and most other "additional toolbars". (That admittedly haven't been well supported since XP anyway, but that's not particularly here nor there.) It sounds like a complete rewrite where they didn't bother to implement even a third of the old features.
  - johnday 5y ago
    > The Windows 11 Taskbar sounds pretty bad from your description. Alas, it is. There's a short thread on Twitter about it here: https://twitter.com/dixonary_/status/1409852434609020933?s=20 https://twitter.com/dixonary_/status/1409852434609020933?s=2...