Bring back the floating toolbars in taskbar

[skagon]

Summary of the new feature/enhancement

A long time ago and until Windows 7, people could create toolbars on the taskbar and then drag them off the taskbar, either leaving them floating on the desktop or attaching them on a different desktop edge – like the top, left or right. Those toolbars could even be set to auto-hide so they wouldn't waste space. Users could have specific toolbars for shortcuts, for showing the drives (my personal favourite) in "My Computer" or the contents of any other directory. That was a really powerful and very useful feature.

I remember it got deprecated on Windows Vista, but if memory serves there was a little "trick" you could do to have it work. By Windows 7, it was gone. Please bring it back!

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

I don't have a proposal, but I'm sure the code allowing the toolbars to be detached from the taskbar and re-attached to other monitor edges is still in there, somewhere.

[crutkas]

@skagon, can you go into more details in the scenarios you'd use this in. Easier to talk about scenarios and why something is important.

[skagon]

The scenarios are literally endless and it's quite simple for me to write a few, since that feature is not theoretical but existed in older versions of Windows.

My favourite use was to have a toolbar docked at the top edge of the desktop, set to autohide, and set to show the contents of "My Computer", i.e. all the drives. In fact, I've grown so used to having that functionality that, ever since Windows removed that functionality, I'm using a third-party application for that (called Winstep).

One other scenario was one that a friend of mine had, where he also had a toolbar set to the top edge, also set to autohide, but instead of the drives, he had created a "shortcuts" toolbar, where he had placed his most-used shortcuts for programs and folders.

Yet another friend (yes, I had shown that trick to everyone I knew) had two toolbars. One on the left edge, where he had shortcuts of the folders he used the most, while at the top he had two toolbars; one was again "My Computer" but since he only had two partitions and one CD-ROM drive, the rest of the space was set to a third toolbar showing shortcuts. All of them were set to autohide.

In fact, I think I've got a screenshot of that old desktop of mine somewhere. Let me see if I can find it.

Yeah, that's it. [Edit: please, don't judge, this is a screenshot from 2001… I was young and… well… my favourite football team wears green!]

I hope you can see how useful something like this is. Actually, the fact that there are other programs that are trying to replicate that functionality by providing "docks" on the desktop, for shortcuts or folders – or even applets but that's besides the point now – I think speaks for itself.

The biggest advantage to having a toolbar docked on a different edge of the screen is that you can have access to its contents without having to minimize or move windows out of the way, so you can get to the shortcuts on the desktop. You can have your desktop completely clean. You can have access to your drives without having to find the "My Computer" a.k.a. "This PC" icon, and it saves clicks, since all you have to do is to move the cursor to the appropriate edge and click on the drive, folder or shortcut you want, directly. Moreover, if you prefer having folders, these folders will automatically expand, so you can just move through the directory structure, subdirectories, and get to the file you want, without a single click. Well, ok, with just one click, at the file itself.

Moreover, you could, theoretically, also have subdirectories containing shortcuts, so you could categorize and group them to your preference, and only have the one toolbar showing the parent directory which contains them!

I can't think of other uses but I'm sure that people will think of more, like they did when that feature was a standard feature of the taskbar.

[ZarVladimirII]

Thanks crutkas to show interest. What additional information in particular you would like to what is already given?

From microsoft originally named 'deskbands'.

Probably the most who remember this function found a third-party software to replace their use case. But it´s third party, often with more than asked for.

A different short description: Choose any folder, also possible "My Computer", let it float (like an window only with an X) or allow docking to border and auto-hide (as the taskbar can). It will show the folders and files in the choosen folder, only as icon or with description. Similar what you can select for every Toolbar you create on the taskbar.

Some tunes from the past https://superuser.com/questions/444427/how-can-i-create-a-separate-toolbar-from-the-task-bar https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/can-i-separate-the-task-bar-and-tool-bar-that-are/4e0175be-05d9-4411-ab1c-973d8c755781 I read someone used the 'Quick Launch'- Folder to create a 'Pin to taskbar' alike prior to Windows Vista. Only possible through this feature without third-party.

[Jay-o-Way]

Any update?