v2.5 Beta Brings Vertical Taskbar Option on Windows 11
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Today we are releasing the Start11 v2.5 beta with new features, a couple of enhancements and bug fixes as well. The update is available now as a beta and you can download this release from the Download page of your Stardock account or through Object Desktop manager – learn more here.
New with version 2.5 is the ability to use a vertical taskbar on Windows 11. The vertical taskbar can be placed on the left or right side of the display and functions just as you remember from previous versions of Windows where this configuration was supported. To enable the new taskbar experience, open the configuration panel, click Taskbar, scroll to the Taskbar position option and select you desired configuration.
Along with the new vertical taskbar support, centered taskbar buttons with a left aligned Start icon is now supported on more than two monitors (previously only two screens were supported). While support for two monitors covered the majority of our users, we wanted to make sure power-users who have many displays can utilize this layout as well.
In addition to the new functionality, several bugs are being squashed with this update. We have improved compatibility with the latest Insider builds of Windows 11 that we expect to be released in the coming months and with this release, Start11 v2 will be ready for those updates.
Vertical taskbars have been highly requested by our community and we are happy to finally check this feature off the backlog. If you have any requests for upcoming features or find any bugs that we missed in our testing, make sure to join our community here.
And if you haven't tried Start11 v2 yet, you can download it from the app page and it is also included in the award-winning suite, Object Desktop.
What version of Windows 11 are you using?
If it is 23H2 or 24H2 then I recommend uninstalling Start11, rebooting (important) and then reinstalling Start11.
Hi Neil,
thanks for the hint -- I'm on 24H2 and your suggestion of doing a clean uninstall including a reboot before reinstalling did the trick! Thank you!
Great to see this progressing.
Unfortunately, beta release only available for those who have paid license to such product.Thank you.Basj,Stardock Community Assistant.
My license was acquired through Humble Bundle's storefront - is there a way I can gain access to the beta?
Thank you.
I believe, if you purchased through Humble Bundle you should have an account in Stardock for that purchase. If so, you should be able to get the Beta from that same account. Try here: https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products.
Thank you,
Basj,Stardock Community Assistant
Solution in my case for exactly that:
uninstall (other) versions first - before installing the beta. Otherwise not all files will be replaced and the UI shows the option without it having effect.
Got it, it's linked to my Stardock account after installing and activating with the correct email address. Guessing this would be the same for Steam and other storefronts as well. Sadly my license is only for v1, but at least I can use the upgrade discount. Thanks!
No, Steam purchased will only be manage via Steam. Download, Installation, Updates and Activation, all is done via Steam.
I replaced Start 11 with:
StartallBack (Smaller, Faster and simple)
along with
SmartTaskbar (In the Auto Mode, SmartTaskbar will set the Taskbar to hide when When the focused window and the taskbar intersect)START 11 should have this option built-in.
Quick Access Popup (Make my own Popup Menus anywhere)
When using either the left or right vertical task bar, there is no longer a search icon. The pictures also don't show the search icon, not sure why this was left out.
When a taskbar item is active, it is underlined on the taskbar, no indication of active apps on vertical taskbar.
I'll just stay with the bottom taskbar, disappointed.
You should be able to have a search icon. You cannot have the search field as that's not vertical friendly but you should get just an icon. You may want to double check your settings in Windows for that.
With regards to foreground apps, the buttons should be identical to how they are when horizontal. Win 11 style has the wide dot under the active window, win10 style has the line on the left or right depending on taskbar position.
If this isn't the case for you could you post a screenshot showing what you are seeing please.
I happened to see an app on the windows store to make the taskbar transparent. I tried installing it along with Start11 and the taskbar isn't transparent. It would be a cool feature to add so you can see the wallpaper behind the taskbar. I LOVE the vertical task bar, thanks!!!
Hello,Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, there is an option to adjust your taskbar transparency, have you try it?
Thank you.Basj,Stardock Community Assistant.
Oh! very cool! thanks for the hint, it works! You people are awesome!!!
Great, glad to help.
I changed the size of taskbar to multiple rows, but the notification icon is still shown in one row, this is very inconvenient, hopefully this issue will be fixed in future version.
Btw, wish there will be a quick launch area in future version.
This is normal Windows 11 behavior. You can blame Microsoft for this one. This has been requested many times, but so far we have not seen anything. It may not be possible for Stardock to change this behavior.
Downloaded and installed V2.5 yesterday. I can move taskbar to the top of screen but neither right nor left is working for me. Windows 11, 24H2 not installed, 3840x2160 resolution on laptop, same for monitor. Anything I'm missing here.
I would suggest uninstalling v2.5 and immediately rebooting. Delete the prior downloaded installer and then redownload v2.5 and reinstall and immediately reboot - that's important. Please report back.
Uninstall, reboot and then reinstall as probably did not replace the earlier version of start11 correctly.
Hello! In the latest versions, there is a problem with displaying text in the installer window. Most likely an encoding problem. Moreover, the text in Russian and English is displayed correctly, and some of the text is displayed as symbols. In addition, in the last 4 versions of the program (including beta versions), a strange thing happens with the program shortcut, which I add to the Start11 menu: after adding, the color of the shortcut changes from green to red! I also continue to observe the problem of opening the context menu for shortcuts of portable programs (the first right-click brings up a menu with a long delay and freezing), which has already been reported many times. Shortcuts to portable programs in the native Start menu do not have these problems. I would be very grateful if the developer can fix any of this. I am attaching the video.
I personally do not like macOS. I bought the latest MacBook with the M4 Max chip for Christmas, but after about a week of using it, I put it away in a cupboard. To me, it feels more like an iPad for laptops and desktops. You need to purchase around 10 additional apps just to do things that Windows handles out of the box. Switching to macOS after using Windows for 30 years felt like stepping back in time to Windows 95—limited and restrictive compared to the capabilities of Windows 10 or 11.
That said, macOS does have one feature I really admire: the menu bar at the top of the screen. It's a great way to display the clock, system icons, and other useful tools. Combined with the dock at the bottom, it's quite an elegant design. Personally, though, I don’t use the Windows taskbar at all. Instead, I’ve configured one of the extra buttons on my mouse (using its drivers) to bring up all running applications and desktops, allowing me to quickly switch between them without needing a taskbar.
I recently uninstalled Start11 from all my Windows PCs and instead purchased MyDockFinder for £4.25, which is available on Steam. Along with a free app called Quick Access Popup, I’ve created a setup that’s far more efficient and customizable. Quick Access Popup allows you to assign popup menus anywhere your mouse is, enabling you to run apps, send system hotkeys, use snippets, and much more.
The point of writing this is to suggest that the developers of Start11 could take inspiration from MyDockFinder and Quick Access Popup to create one unified, supercharged Windows 11 application, If they don't, I might just come out of retirement and develop an application like this myself.
Did as instructed and I have my taskbar on the left.
Stardocks dock is called object dock. But I will concur that program could use some modernization and further updates although you could try placing a shrunken taskbar on top and a dock on the bottom of the screen to mimic the look a little. I use a dock and taskbar together all the time myself.
In regards to Quick Access Popup, isnt that what start 11 v2.5 does? I mean they have all kinds of tools and customization's built in that seriously saves on clicks. There are taskbar pins and start menu pins that all serve as quick access points. I am guessing that maybe Quick Access Popup does something a little bit quicker to you? If so that could be a feature request for start 11
Hi,
Great to see the latest version of Start11 shows text with the icons in the vertical taskbar.
My hope is your team is working on, what for me would be the icing on the cake, namely that system tray icons wrap in the width of the task bar (like in Windows 10).
I run my task bar quite wide (without combining application icons). That way I can see, for example, which of multiple Excel files I want to click to select. It would be really great if the system tray icons could occupy only a few rows with multiple icons in each.
Great product. Keep up the fantastic work.
Cheers,
Neil
I just loaded the new version with the vertical taskbar and so happy this is finally happening.
One issue/question please? With the horizontal bar I can set the divider between the task bar and the screen high enough to have several rows of icons. With the vertical bar, no matter how far I shift the divider over, there only seems to be one icon per horizontal space, and then a slider bar appears to allow you to see all the icons?
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