All good things come to end. Or, in this case, not so good things. Microsoft has dropped the special taskbar tablet UI in Windows 11 citing feedback from early testers of this feature.
Goes without saying that the users were not keen on it.
Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 does not come with a dedicated tablet mode. Instead, Redmond opted to apply improvements right to the desktop user interface in order to better support tablets. You may recall that this was an approach the company previously employed for Windows 8.
The software titan created a new minimized taskbar interface that took way less space when you were not using it.
As you can see in the comparison above, this design is very much similar to how mobile operating systems roll, and is particularly useful on tablets with small screens. This UI allocated more space to the apps running on the device, compared to the full state.
And just like Android or iOS, you had the option to swipe up from the taskbar to expand and access your pinned apps. Doing so would bring up a thicker taskbar that would appear with large icons to allow you to easily click on the icons.
The idea sounds good on paper, but sadly the implementation made it harder to use system tray capabilities in Windows 11.
On top of it, Microsoft removed the ability to drag and drop icons displayed insider or around the system tray in order to better support this new tablet optimized taskbar.
However, public pressure has now forced the company to pull this tablet optimized taskbar in the latest preview release, namely build 22610. It appears that Redmond received tons of negative feedback on this change that ended up causing usability issues on tablets.
The company has made it clear that this feature is not returning anytime soon, meaning it will definitely not ship with the anniversary update for Windows 11 destined for launch later in the year.
Perhaps it might in a more optimized and improved form some day?
You never can tell with these things!
