Is there a third-party alternative to the system tray notification area?


Anixx

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I am looking for a taskbar plugin for Win10 taskbar (or Win11 in Win10 mode) that replaces the system notification area (including clock and built-in icons). Would be interested in similar software for older versions of Windows as well.
 

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For what purpose?
 

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    WIN 11 Pro 24H2 - 26100.2161
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    ASUS X99-A
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Anything is better than Microsoft. Third party alternatives are superior and offer more functionality and customisability.
 

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System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP ZBook G2
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7 5500u
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    HP
    Memory
    8 GB
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    Intel HD Family Graphics AMD Firepro 4150M
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    Realtek High Audio
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    1 TB SSD
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    HP USB Mouse
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    Zone Alarm Free Antivirus/Zone Alarm Free Firewall NEXT GEN
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    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
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    HP Zbook G4
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    Xeon 1535m v6
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    HP
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    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Quadro Pro 4100
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    Bang and Olufson Audio
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    1TB SSD
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    HP USB Mouse
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    Zone Alarm Free Antivirus/Zone Alarm Free Firewall NEXT GEN
Anything is better than Microsoft. Third party alternatives are superior and offer more functionality and customisability.
Why not name a few then?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 11 Pro 24H2 - 26100.2161
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-5820K
    Motherboard
    ASUS X99-A
    Memory
    48G Teamgroup UD4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER X34 Predator
    Screen Resolution
    3440 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Crucial CT1000P 3P SSD8 1TB
    PSU
    GameMax Pro
    Case
    Fractal Design
    Cooling
    Corsair H110iGT
    Keyboard
    Corsair K4
    Mouse
    G-Skill G402
    Internet Speed
    50MBs
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    OEM
Anything is better than Microsoft. Third party alternatives are superior and offer more functionality and customisability.
Then why bother use Windows at all?
 

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    Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
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    ASUS Zenbook 14
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    I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
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    Yep, Laptop has one.
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    TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

    Macrium Reflect Home V8
    Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
    Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)

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System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG Strix
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WIN 11 Pro 24H2 - 26100.2161
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-5820K
    Motherboard
    ASUS X99-A
    Memory
    48G Teamgroup UD4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER X34 Predator
    Screen Resolution
    3440 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Crucial CT1000P 3P SSD8 1TB
    PSU
    GameMax Pro
    Case
    Fractal Design
    Cooling
    Corsair H110iGT
    Keyboard
    Corsair K4
    Mouse
    G-Skill G402
    Internet Speed
    50MBs
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    OEM

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  • OS
    Windows 11 Home(Release Preview) - 24H2 - 26100.2161
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    Manufacturer/Model
    Banana Junior 5600- G Series
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    AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
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    Asus ROG Strix B550-F
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    G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB 4x16
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    28" ASUS VP28U
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    4K
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    Primary SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus
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    Zalman i3 NEO
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    ARCTIC Freezer 7 X
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    Corsair
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    Amazon Generic with Cord
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    Download: 295.11 mbps Upload: 65.35 mbps T-Mobile Internet
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    Firefox and Edge
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    MS - Defender
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
If a dev stumbled across this thread, a list of wanted features would probably be helpful

what could you do with the old 3rd party applications that you cant do now?

its actually easier in Win11 to pragmatically control the notification area, icon promotion is a good example.. You can move icons from the taskbar/overflow instantly by changing a reg key.. It’s a lot more difficult to do the same thing in 10
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    PE
what could you do with the old 3rd party applications that you cant do now?
Toolbars and my Drag N Drop Outbox, just to name a couple...

7128.jpg 7127.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG Strix
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook
its actually easier in Win11 to pragmatically control the notification area, icon promotion is a good example.. You can move icons from the taskbar/overflow instantly by changing a reg key.. It’s a lot more difficult to do the same thing in 10
He doesn't want to use the Win11 taskbar. (Neither do I, for that matter...)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
I really appreciate the clean look of W11 Taskbar, flyouts and modules...,
I just don't appreciate their limited functionality, so, you get the best of both worlds with SAB.

7133.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG Strix
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook
I really appreciate the clean look of W11 Taskbar, flyouts and modules...,
I just don't appreciate their limited functionality, so, you get the best of both worlds with SAB.

View attachment 100299
I disagree. The minimum taskbar height that is possible to be achieved is still too tall. After I change the icons size to the smallest option available, they are still too big. After I change the spacing between icons to the narrowest option available, the spacing is still too wide.

Just to give you a quick example of what I mean, here is a pic I edited in another thread almost 2 weeks ago. The taskbar on the top is from SAB. On the bottom is the Win10 taskbar from ExplorerPatcher.

taskbars-png.99434
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
I disagree. The minimum taskbar height that is possible to be achieved is still too tall. After I change the icons size to the smallest option available, they are still too big. After I change the spacing between icons to the narrowest option available, the spacing is still too wide.

Just to give you a quick example of what I mean, here is a pic I edited in another thread almost 2 weeks ago. The taskbar on the top is from SAB. On the bottom is the Win10 taskbar from ExplorerPatcher.

taskbars-png.99434
Damn thats super messy and an OCD issue for me LOL
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    10700k@5.2
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Gaming X Z490
    Memory
    Viper Steelseries 32gb@ 3600mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 2070 Super 8GB, +200 core + 600 memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 4k HDR, Two 1080p Benq and Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160/2560x1440/1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Adata XPG SX8200 PRO 1tb
    Samsung EVO 870 500GB
    PSU
    Corsair RX 650
    Case
    NZXT h510
    Cooling
    CM HYPER 212 RGB
    Keyboard
    Razer Ornata Chroma
    Mouse
    Steelseries Rival 710
Damn thats super messy and an OCD issue for me LOL
Yes, the one on the top is. It's got icon overflow in both the open apps area and the notification area, and the tiny indicators below the open app icons remind me of this:

0a1f1c1c0b6bf9a08d964394c6794ba4.gif
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
A shame we can't revert back to the Windows 10 taskbar. The latest Explorer Patcher, following Microsoft removed customisation for it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP ZBook G2
    CPU
    Intel® Core i7 5500u
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Family Graphics AMD Firepro 4150M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Audio
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Mouse
    HP USB Mouse
    Antivirus
    Zone Alarm Free Antivirus/Zone Alarm Free Firewall NEXT GEN
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Zbook G4
    CPU
    Xeon 1535m v6
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Quadro Pro 4100
    Sound Card
    Bang and Olufson Audio
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD
    Mouse
    HP USB Mouse
    Antivirus
    Zone Alarm Free Antivirus/Zone Alarm Free Firewall NEXT GEN
A shame we can't revert back to the Windows 10 taskbar. The latest Explorer Patcher, following Microsoft removed customisation for it.
I am currently running the latest pre-release version of ExplorerPatcher on 2 different laptops. Both laptops are on Windows 11 version 23H2 build 22631.3810. I still have my Win10 taskbar on both. So no, it hasn't been removed from ExplorerPatcher. As the documentation of ExplorerPatcher clearly states, ExplorerPatcher is not guaranteed to work correctly on insider builds of Windows. It actually never was. That's because, for the most part, testing it on insider builds is just a waste of time. The moment when 24H2 will officially be released by Microsoft, I will simply stick to 23H2 until I know that I can still continue to use the Win10 taskbar on it or until some other solution is found.

Windows 11 build 26002+ has a new component, DisableWin10Taskbar (ID: 42537950). When enabled, this component prevents the legacy code from loading, but ViVeTool can be used to disable this component. A new pre-release version of ExplorerPatcher was released some time ago, which checks if this component is enabled, and, if it is, then ExplorerPatcher gracefully falls back to the Win11 taskbar. This effectively avoids the crash condition that otherwise would occur with 26002+ builds if the user tried to use the Win10 taskbar option in ExplorerPatcher. This crash condition was the only reason why ExplorerPatcher got blocked by Windows Security (Defender). That is, ExplorerPatcher got blocked by it in spite of the fact that the author of ExplorerPatcher made it abundantly very clear that you aren't supposed to use ExplorerPatcher on anything excepting only production builds of Windows 10/11 unless maybe if you feel lucky.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
One thing nice about the Open-Source Linux is that if one of the about 100 different, most free, offerings shown on www.distrowatch.com doesn't meet the needs, one can write their own version as desired.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
Yes, the one on the top is. It's got icon overflow in both the open apps area and the notification area, and the tiny indicators below the open app icons remind me of this:

0a1f1c1c0b6bf9a08d964394c6794ba4.gif
Both are to me lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    10700k@5.2
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Gaming X Z490
    Memory
    Viper Steelseries 32gb@ 3600mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 2070 Super 8GB, +200 core + 600 memory
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 4k HDR, Two 1080p Benq and Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160/2560x1440/1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Adata XPG SX8200 PRO 1tb
    Samsung EVO 870 500GB
    PSU
    Corsair RX 650
    Case
    NZXT h510
    Cooling
    CM HYPER 212 RGB
    Keyboard
    Razer Ornata Chroma
    Mouse
    Steelseries Rival 710

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