The modernization of Windows 11 is great, but the taskbar really lets the OS down.

You can’t easily hide system icons, and the whole area feels a little too simplified for my liking. The system tray is also worse in Windows 11 compared to Windows 10. Instead, the taskbar context menu has been reduced to a single taskbar settings option. Many users are also missing the Task Manager not being part of the taskbar context menu, or the many other cascade and windowing options that were previously there. You can’t even move the taskbar to the top or sides of your screen, or adjust its height. You can’t enable small icons anymore or ungroup icons. No more dragging and dropping on the taskbar.Įlsewhere, the taskbar has been overhauled to remove a lot of the customization Windows users are used to. This is basic functionality that has existed in Windows for years. This no longer works, and you’re presented with a giant red cross instead. I commonly drag images from File Explorer onto the Adobe Photoshop icon on my taskbar, where it will bring the app into focus and open the file. I simply don’t understand why Microsoft would remove this in the name of simplification.Īnother big missing feature is being able to drag and drop files onto taskbar apps. This sounds like a small issue, but it’s glanceable information I look at multiple times a day and rely on. I personally use three monitors on my PC, and if I’m using a fullscreen app or a game on my primary one, I can’t see the date or time on my other monitors. While this missing functionality initially seemed like bugs or unfinished code, it’s clear Microsoft now intends to ship the taskbar like this on October 5th. There’s so much missing here that I’m stunned Microsoft is shipping a new OS that takes the Windows taskbar back decades. Missing features include power user elements like displaying the time and date on multiple monitors, or simple things like having small icons and being able to move the taskbar around. Microsoft promotes itself as the productivity company, but the new Windows 11 taskbar removes key functionality and makes me less productive as a result.

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