All New Feature, You Can Move Your Taskbar … Again
Microsoft are starting to realize that the improvements they’ve been forcing upon Windows 11 users are not popular. It’s only taken a few years for them to realize that outside of the echo chamber of whomever they have been consulting, the vast majority of Windows 11 users despise most of the new features Microsoft have been inflicting upon us. There are some basic ones, like making the default settings of widgets and feeds far less bloody annoying. If you like the stock ticket you can get it back, but soon it won’t be stealing your attention on a fresh install of Windows.
They’ve also decided that “reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad” might be a good idea, something millions of users have told them and the technically inclined have created and freely shared tools which strip Copilot from those Windows 11 apps. They’ve also realized that the things they’ve done to File Explorer were horrific and that maybe focusing on making sure it works is more important that adding more junk to it. You will also once again be able to relocate your taskbar to the top or sides of the Window, though it will likely still bear a suspicious resemblance to the Apple Dock.
One thing that isn’t being included in these improvements is being discussed internally, and one can only hope that the other executives at Microsoft listen. Microsoft Vice President Scott Hanselman apparently hates the requirement to associated your Windows 11 install with an online account, be it Microsoft or another email provider. He and others inside Microsoft are pushing to allow users a chance to create a local Windows 11 account without having to resort to oobe\bypassnro during setup.
We can only hope that Team Local Account wins before Team NRO not only annoys huge swaths of personal users but also breaks corporate enrolment in their quest to make Windows 11 even worse that it currently is.
