Why are the Taskbar and Widget calendars so useless in Win11?

I recently upgraded to Win11 from 10, and while the transition has been relatively smooth, I've found that the calendar built into the taskbar and the associated calendar widget on the pop out menu are basically useless.

I used the taskbar calendar to check on my daily schedules all the time. Now to find it being absolutely pointless is disconcerting. Upgrades to the OS should improve functionality not take it away. Unless I'm missing something. I mean yes I still have the main calendar metro app which I can use. But the taskbar one was a very handy quick reference.

Am I missing something here? Am I just being dense and have missed the options to set the taskbar calendar properly?

As an aside I tried importing and integrating my Gmail calendar (my main calendar) into Outlook. But the widget still says "Sorry events from this account can't be displayed", even though I imported from file into Outlook's main calendar. Again I may be being dense but I can't see any options that would allow me to get this widget into a usable state either.

Or are these new versions of the calendar integrations into the OS really just this terrible?

I use One Calendar and it does everything I need. I have it on all of my computers and my Samsung Galaxy S22+ phone. I have it setup to my Gmail account, so all of my devices sync up when I make any changes.

... pretty much like any half-baked feature made by MS. I do not know, if they do it on purpose or they are just dumb?!
MS can not even get something as simple as quick notes on android to work. Windows apps are a lost cause entirely.

PirateAndy said:

Am I missing something here?

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Nothing more than MS themselves have missed!

My W11 installation consists of 95% 3rd party programs..., and that's not my fault!

Can you not pin calendar to taskbar?

Fabler2 said:

Can you not pin calendar to taskbar?

View attachment 48629

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I do, but I used the pop out calendar as quick reference. The one I've linked a pic of here. In Win10 I could see my events and even edit and start new events. New calendar is just a set of dates... Nowhere near as useful. And the Outlook widget on the other pop out menu seems broken.

It's not deal breaking by any means but, it is just baffeling that such a useful feature would be stripped out of the new version of the OS. Especially one that wasn't doing any harm by being there even if you didn't use it.

Edwin said:

Nothing more than MS themselves have missed!

My W11 installation consists of 95% 3rd party programs..., and that's not my fault!

Click to expand...

Well luckily I just upgraded my current Win10 install and so I already had a rubbish load of 3rd party software I use. I even find some of the Windows Metro apps useful from time to time. Though it seems like all the upgrade did was change the core Windows files and left everything else pretty much untouched.

When you say Microsoft missed things... anything specific I should be aware of?

If you click on "My Computers" you will see my specs and the apps I use.

PirateAndy said:

... anything specific I should be aware of?

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Mmm..., not really, but, you'll probably run into quirks from time to time!

I've always been fond of Desk Ink Blotter/Calendars and forever wanted one for PC...,
then found This One
Right out front, add your entries at will, no digging for an app!