Get ready for some unexpected UI improvements! Microsoft appears to be testing a new taskbar animation in Windows 11 build 25179, which recently made its way to the Dev channel.
As you would expect, the new animation is more fluent and fluid.
Before we get into the details, the official changelog of this new preview build mentioned that it only contained general bug fixes and improvements. But some Windows Insiders quickly noticed something unusual happening on the taskbar.
That unusual thing, it seems, is Microsoft testing new icon flyout animation as A/B testing.
Luckily, users can force-enable it on their system using ViveTool, a third-party tool created to help enable hidden Windows 11 Insiders features ahead of their release for end users. Of course, more on that later, but first, let’s take a look at the new animation.
This should serve as a good showcase:
No variant has to be specified for the ID. Since this ID is used for A/B testing, that explains why some people see it and others don't.
I made this (not so good) video showing the animation used dependent on what the state of the 39072097 ID is: pic.twitter.com/MDUJB9rW8u
— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) August 11, 2022
Looks slick!
The new taskbar animation ditches the old fly-up style in favor of a zoom variant. This is obviously a very subtle UI change, but one with the potential to generate varying opinions among the Windows community.
User interface changes almost always do.
Recall the icons fiasco in those very first Windows 10 preview builds?
Like with other A/B experiments in Windows 11 preview builds, only a select few users can enjoy the new animation. That is, unless you use some software hacks and tricks to unlock the new features in testing on your system.
To do that, you enable the new taskbar animation in Windows 11 build 25179 using the following ID after installing ViveTool and launching it as an Administrator.
vivetool /enable /id:39072097
Enter the above command, and hit the Enter key. Restart your computer to apply the changes, and watch the taskbar load with a new animation after the system boots back in.
After you do, be sure to let us know how you like the new effect in the comments!
