The floating taskbar is back in Windows 11

Windows 11 Start

Return of the floating taskbar? A couple of months back the Windows user base was surprised to find that a new look of the user interface was spotted that had the taskbar detached from the bottom of the screen.

Rounded corners were also a part of what seemed to be a redesign.

It was quickly shot down by Microsoft, who disappointingly termed this just as a bug.

Well, it looks like the bug is back!

For those of you who liked that design, there still may be a little hope that Microsoft is exploring something like that. While we may not get an indication from the company, it certainly seems to be trying out this radical shell redesign internally.

During its annual Ignite 2022 conference, the software titan showed off a screenshot of Windows 11 that was a complete departure from how things currently are in the operating system.

See:

Windows 11 Floating Taskbar

The taskbar here is floating, has rounded corners, while all the indicators from the notification area reside at the top of the screen instead of the bottom-right corner. A search bar and a weather widget also sit at the top, leaving a whole lot of blank space to the left and right of the taskbar.

This definitely is a strange looking user interface, and it begs the question why exactly would Microsoft create such a thing and showcase at such a high-profile event.

Something must be cooking!

It may be a teaser of the upcoming changes, sure, or it could just be one of the many UI prototypes floating inside the labs in Redmond.

Even if this turns Windows 11 into an Ubuntu clone.