HackerNews Summary (2023-06-10 03PM)

Source: Ask HN: Why did major desktop OSes settle on a macOS-like taskbar?

Summary
Recent desktop OSes have switched to a macOS-like bottom-aligned taskbar with large icons, however, the classic labeled taskbar offers more information and larger click areas making it more predictable. The shift to an icon-only taskbar requires a second level grouping for multiple windows and seems unnecessary for high DPI screens.

Facts

👀 The transition to a bottom-aligned icon taskbar has been adopted by most major desktop OSes.

💻 The classic labeled taskbar provides more information with text for document or media titles and the current path.

🧩 The elongated click area of a labeled taskbar is larger and more predictable.

🤝 An icon-only taskbar requires a second level grouping if the same app has multiple windows.

🔎 The shift to an icon-only taskbar seems unnecessary for high DPI screens, with the tradeoff being too big to be solely for that purpose.

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