[suction]

Feedback Hub indeed seems to be useless - because it is designed to act as a sink hole.

Yet the topic the author of this article and apparently hundreds of others are describing as a show-stopping miss of Windows 11: The ability to see open documents ungrouped on the task bar. That's not a "bug" which needs to be addressed directly by developers.

And really? That alone is a reason to go through a harrowing downgrade process to an earlier OS version?

Not a regular Windows user, but I found that feature to be almost toxic UX - the open documents on the task bar all looked the same, and not different enough from the app icon, to make it a time / click-saving feature. I ended up clicking on each one until the correct window was in front.

It surely was worse UX than simply cycling through all open windows by the keyboard shortcut. Which isn't exactly power-user knowledge.

[thombles]

(author here) Each "button" on the taskbar shows as a label the name of the document. This is the key differentiator that makes W10- so convenient - they don't look the same because they have text showing exactly what you're getting!

[suction]

Strange, on the PC I sometimes use, there are only icons, no text. I have to hover of each one to see the name, but it already breaks down for long names.

[WolfRazu]

When individual windows are ungrouped their application name is displayed, so you can just look for the name of the document or window you're looking for. I miss this feature too.

[Jaruzel]

I think Microsoft's preferred window navigation method is the Windows+tab combo, and from there you just click on the app/document you want.

That said, it's had that sort of functionality forever, and I personally still never use it.

[jcpham2]

Windows key+tab user checking in to say yes this is how I find myself in a sea of combined Windows or alt+tab to just cycle until I find it. It isn’t ideal but it’s my default method ever since combining windows was introduced in 7, or 8, or Vista or wherever it began..

[e-brake]

Completely agree, Microsoft seems more focused on UI polishing than addressing fundamental usability issues hampering productivity with Windows 11. Presenting grouped application windows and trying to parse which one is which, when they all look the same. It's bananas! Unbearable to use. Must be due to bad management decisions, the release was premature and they are still rolling out fixes interminably.

[temac]

Apple has a polished UI. MS seems more focused on changing the control panel / settings program in each version without ever finishing the migration and keeping unrefreshed UIs from all era and branches of Windows. That, and the start menu + windows decoration / transparency effect (except here too : not on all windows...)

[Nextgrid]

"Polishing" is very generous. "Shitting all over it" would be a more appropriate way to describe Microsoft's UI efforts since Windows 7.