The taskbar is a cornerstone user interface feature of Windows. That bar along the bottom of the Windows desktop includes your active minimized/maximized program windows, the Start button, the System Tray area, pinned shortcuts, and the clock. It enables you to multitask by switching between minimized program windows.
The taskbar has been a part and parcel of Windows for more than 25 years, and over that time period, Microsoft has added and removed features to and from the taskbar. This is the history of the Windows taskbar from its inception up to 2023.
The Early Days of Windows: Before the Taskbar
The taskbar did not exist in the early Windows 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 platforms released from 1985-1992.
However, Windows 1.0 and 2.0 did include a bar on which users could minimize multiple running programs by double-clicking their title bars. Each program on that bar had an icon to click on, a bit more like the taskbar from Windows 7 onward. That bar can be considered the forerunner to the Windows taskbar.
However, it didn’t include a Start menu or system tray area and wasn’t even present in Windows 3.0. Program windows minimized to the desktop background area in Windows 3.0.
Windows 95: The Introduction of the Taskbar
Daniel Oran, a former Microsoft interface designer, is credited with inventing the taskbar and Start menu in 1993. He suggested Microsoft add a Start menu button to Windows 95 that users could access from a new taskbar. This would make it easier to access everything from a central system menu.
The Redmond giant unveiled Windows 95 in 1995 with a “Start Me Up” Rolling Stones launch jamboree that introduced the new Start menu and taskbar.
The first true taskbar in Windows 95 laid the foundations for the future with a Start button, system tray area, and permanent clock. However, it was still somewhat different from the Windows 10 and 11 taskbars most users are familiar with today. Windows 95’s taskbar was grey and had rectangular minimized windows with program title labels.
The original Windows 95 version didn’t have a Quick Launch area. However, a Quick Launch area was on later versions of that OS. This was an area of the taskbar on which users could add program shortcuts. It also included a Show Desktop button and Internet Explorer icon.
Some third-party software packages enable you to restore the classic Windows 95 taskbar in Windows 11/10. For example, you can revive the Windows 95 and XP taskbar with the RetroBar app.
Windows XP: A Revamped Taskbar Appears
Microsoft gave Windows XP a new visual style and redesigned the taskbar to match it. Windows XP’s taskbar had a default blue color scheme with a green Start button, which was quite a departure from the gray taskbars of Windows 95, 98, and Millennium. Minimized taskbar windows also had more rounded corners to match the rest of the new-look design.
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Windows XP’s taskbar was the first to have grouped windows. This feature enabled the grouping of multiple open windows from the same application on the taskbar. Users could click to view different windows from the same taskbar app windows.