First, would you really want that? and second, why do you have so many windows open, that this is becoming a problem? if you hide search, I think you can get about 8 non-collapsed windows. do you really need more than that?
But then I'm probably the ultimate outlier: I have my Win10 taskbar configured Win95 style -- showing the full window title and one tab per window. I do not know why the "dock" style of desktop window navigation is so popular.
My taskbar fits 28 windows before scrolling happens. It gets a bit unwieldy after the first 12, and eventually, titles will no longer be displayed.
do you really need more than that?
Yes.
> First, would you really want that? Yep. I was forced to buy StartAllBack, just to be able to use "Never Combine" in Windows 11
> and second, why do you have so many windows open, that this is becoming a problem? if you hide search, I think you can get about 8 non-collapsed windows. do you really need more than that?
Because people have different ways of working. I have 32 gb RAM in my laptop and at any time I have dozens of windows open. I have dozens of browser tabs open at the same time as well. When I am at work, I open each mail that I want to look at later, in a window by double clicking it in Outlook. And then later on, resolving each one by one.
Why don't you give the OP some respect and don't assume they don't know what they want?
Ran out already before even getting to File Locator Pro and File Explorer! - and this is the stuff I know I'll almost certainly be having open pretty much every day. I'll be running additional programs on top of these.
I usually have more than 1 command prompt, and more than 1 Firefox window.
Additionally, Visual Studio isn't decorative. I will actually be using it to work on a program of some kind. And when I run that program under the debugger, the program will need space in the task bar for its icon too.
For me anything other than "Never combine" is an anti-pattern. Every application instance should have its own taskbar button that I can identify by looking at it.
>> if you hide search, I think you can get about 8 non-collapsed windows. do you really need more than that?
I have a huge ultra-wide monitor. I can easily get 20+ non-collapsed window buttons on the taskbar. Combined taskbar window buttons waste my time and impair my productivity.
That's why I prefaced it with 'for me'.
Other people can use works best for them. I know what works best for me.
So I think in my comment above I mostly just automatically omitted the "for me" when reading your original remark.
I agree.
svnpenn's comment characterized "Never combine" as an anti-pattern, but it is my preferred configuration.
Perhaps it would have been more accurate to just say that "Never combine" is not an anti-pattern since many users prefer it for various reasons.
I prefer "Never combine" so that I don't have to spend any time hovering and waiting.