What's worse is that the developers actually making these features are probably using more than one monitor. And hitting those productivity gaps every day.
The windows on each monitor should be represented in a taskbar on that same monitor. Easier to comprehend, faster to mouse to. The app Ultramon does this very well, it's essential for any multi-monitor Windows install.
What sample size do you have here?
They aren't virtually identical; they aren't even the same thing done differently, they're completely different.
They're identical... Is there any chance that you're using "task bar" to mean the application's menu? There are lots of engrossing UI discussion surrounding the application menu and the global menu, but that's not what we're discussing here...
Hell, if you ignored the fact that the Windows taskbar extends across the bottom of the screen and is grey rather than floating in the middle, and ignored the start button vs the finder button... my taskbar and dock look identical, Chrome, Firefox, VLC, Office Apps.
I didn't need this feature until I started running multiple 30''s, but now that I am it's invaluable.
By the way, you can definitely remove those buttons. I don't remember how, but I do remember thinking it took far too long to find the setting to disable them.