The Windows desktop is heavily dependent on user preferences, and with the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has made significant changes to the tried-and-true OS that have understandably pleased almost no one.

One of the most controversial changes was to the Windows 11 taskbar, so much so that users have long used hacks (open in new tab) to try to get back to the expected level of functionality. Thankfully, it appears that Microsoft will be bringing back some of the highly desired features in future releases.

According to TechRadar (open in new tab), some users are seeing the latest preview build of Windows 11, such as XenoPanther (open in new tab), with the 25314 build showing an interesting string associated with the new taskbar They share a fragment of code they found. Among them are grouping modes and the ability to display labels; Leaker's PhantomOfEarth (open in new tab) also retweeted the find, noting that the "never combine" feature may be coming back to Windows.

What this really means is that you have more control over how tabs are grouped. The "don't combine" means that you can turn off the OS's tendency to automatically group tabs from the same program in the taskbar. Instead, you are given the freedom to arrange all programs horizontally.

TechRadar sees this preview as a sign that Microsoft has finally admitted it was wrong about simplifying the taskbar in Windows 11. Indeed, since the launch of Windows 11, we have seen endless patches and updates; it is not easy to expect a world full of Windows users to suddenly scale back their expectations of how the software should work.

Windows Central (opens in new tab) takes a different position on the taskbar conundrum. Rather than saying that the new Windows 11 taskbar implementation has been stripped down, the view is that this new OS started from scratch. It is not the same bar with fewer features; it is completely new and will take time to rebuild.

Whether Microsoft admitted fault and pulled the 360, or whether this was always part of the plan to create something new, is purely speculative. Either way of thinking, it is possible that the plan was to wait to see what users wanted before reviving the feature or implementing it in the first place.

After years of working on something like the taskbar, there must be some bloated parts that are untouched, and it is understandable that they would want to refresh them or start over with a new OS. But it is still odd that it has taken Microsoft so long to make such a simple and in-demand feature a necessity in an OS. Even file explorer tabs (open in a new tab) took an oddly long time to make it onto the system.

It is also possible that these new taskbar features may not even see the light of day, and while we are definitely looking forward to the return of this feature to Windows, not everything that was tested in these previews will pass. Perhaps Microsoft doesn't want to admit fault. We will just have to wait and see what the official build will look like. Personally, I would still prefer the taskbar grouping option over the Start menu ads (open in new tab), but I'm not sure I'd prefer that.