Microsoft is experimenting with a top menu bar for Windows 11

Microsoft’s PowerToys squad is contemplating building a apical paper barroom for Windows 11, overmuch for illustration Linux, macOS, aliases older versions of Windows. The paper bar, aliases Command Palette Dock arsenic Microsoft calls it, would beryllium a caller optional UI that provides speedy entree to tools, monitoring of strategy resources, and overmuch more.

Microsoft has provided conception images of what it’s looking to build, and is soliciting feedback connected whether Windows users would usage a PowerToy for illustration this. “The dock is designed to beryllium highly configurable,” explains Niels Laute, a elder merchandise head astatine Microsoft. “It tin beryllium positioned connected the top, left, right, aliases bottommost separator of the screen, and extensions tin beryllium pinned to 3 chopped regions of the dock: start, center, and end.”

If Microsoft does spell up and build this dock, it will besides see customization options to alteration the background, styling, and wide theme. You’ll besides beryllium capable to easy reorder extensions betwixt the different dock regions and pin them freely.

This dock is designed to complement Microsoft’s existing activity pinch its Command Palette launcher that the institution launched past year. Command Palette is akin to Apple’s Spotlight successful macOS, allowing you to quickly entree commands, apps, and improvement tools.

Microsoft is presently soliciting feedback connected this proposal, and developers tin research pinch an early type of it by importing a task from Microsoft’s PowerToys GitHub repository into Visual Studio.