Reports are circulating that Microsoft is working on a fully movable Taskbar, one that can be moved to the top, bottom, left, and right edges. For years, a movable Taskbar has been standard in Windows, but that all changed with the release of Windows 11.
The reason behind the fixed-position Taskbar in Windows 11 is because it was ported over from the scrapped Windows X mobile operating system project. Microsoft invested heavily in Windows X and, when it was scrapped, needed to justify all that expenditure, so certain UI elements from Windows X were ported into Windows 11, including the fixed-position Taskbar.
I must stress that this is all conjecture at the moment; nothing has been definitely confirmed. The story is based on a recent article from Windows Central, which states that the information is coming from “sources who are familiar with Microsoft’s plans“.
That is pretty vague, but I do believe there would be some credence to it. Microsoft has been reeling from the sheer weight of negative feedback, especially since the disastrous quote from a Microsoft exec that Windows 11 would evolve into an “Agentic AI”.
It’s been a horrific period for Microsoft, and the company is badly in need of a win. Considering a moveable Taskbar has been one of the most often requested features, with near enough to 25,000 requests to date, a moveable Taskbar would almost certainly go some way to repairing the damage.
According to Windows Central’s source, Microsoft is already working on the revamped movable Taskbar, and it is expected to be ready sometime over the (US) summer.
Windows 11 New Feature Request
I have a suggestion for Microsoft: if you really want to introduce a useful feature that is likely to find favor with Windows 11 users, you need to consider implementing a native image backup feature.
The Linux distro Bazzite, recently reviewed by Marc Thomas, does include an automatic image backup feature. And, if the comparatively small Bazzite development team can do it, then for Microsoft, with all its resources, it should be a breeze.
I envisage an image backup feature that automatically creates backups at user-defined intervals. Goodness knows, it’s about time the ancient and unreliable System Restore feature was replaced with something far more effective and reliable.
What new feature do you think might help resurrect Microsoft’s and Windows 11’s reputation? Let us know via the comments.
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