The report highlights that a number of useful functions were also removed, like the freely repositionable taskbar and the customizable Start menu. When Microsoft made the switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11 as their operating system of focus, it wasn’t just the look that changed.
The report highlights that but why were such functions cut in the first place? And why did it take five years to bring them back? Only recently did Microsoft finally backtrack, bringing back the ability to move the taskbar to any edge and allowing users to resize the Start menu again .
The report highlights that windows Current did some digging and found an explanation in an April 2022 Windows Insider AMA , given by Tali Roth who managed the Windows core user experience at the time.
In a fresh development, microsoft had to rebuild the taskbar from scratch and focused only on the key aspects that needed to work for Windows 11. The biggest issue was that Windows 11 didn’t carry over large parts of the old Win32 code, which included the ability to move and customize the taskbar.
The report highlights that in the process, it became clear that moving the taskbar wouldn’t be a trivial capability, primarily because all the apps contained within it would have to respond and adjust accordingly—and the fresh Windows 11 framework didn’t allow for that.
As part of the ongoing story, “When you think about having the taskbar on the right or the left, all of a sudden the reflow and the work that all of the apps have to do to be able to have a wonderful experience in those environments is just huge,” Roth said.
The report highlights that only in the years that followed did it become a more prominent issue, with a small but vocal audience of Windows users repeatedly pointing at the missing capability and asking Microsoft to bring it back. Microsoft also said that demand for a repositionable taskbar was low, as most users tended to opt for the default option.
In a fresh development, to make the taskbar repositionable again, Microsoft carried out various tests with Windows Insiders until they got a desirable result.
According to the latest update, given Microsoft’s design direction—a cleaner, more minimalist look that leans more heavily into smartphone philosophy than desktop—it wasn’t easy to add customization to the Windows 11 Start menu. The same was true for the Start menu, which previously offered significantly more customization options in Windows 10.
As part of the ongoing story, the fresh Start menu was originally based on React, a web-based framework, which was later switched to WinUI to reduce its memory footprint. Apparently, there were five prototypes for the Windows 11 Start menu, four of which didn’t meet developers’ standards.
The report highlights that as was recently unveiled, one big end goal is to give back control to Windows 11 users . Now that Microsoft is modernizing Windows 11 via WinUI , there’s now the opportunity to make sweeping changes that allow for fresh developments in the taskbar, Start menu, and elsewhere.