Windows 11 tests movable taskbar and drops WMIC

Anyone trying out the new Release Preview can move the Windows taskbar to an unusual position: top, bottom, left or right. Its size can also be changed. Microsoft is testing an interface that can be adapted more closely to users' own work habits—while removing an old tool from the system at the same time: WMIC is no longer included.

The new freedom has limits. The taskbar can only be shrunk at the top or bottom edge of the screen; its search function is available there only as well. In the Start menu, Windows is partly giving up automatic size control: users can set its size themselves. The features are initially available in Insider previews; the Release Preview changes are expected to appear as an optional update for the non-security components of the September Patch Tuesday update.

In Beta and experimental Insider channels, Microsoft is also taking on File Explorer. Its context menu is intended to respond faster and look cleaner because fewer frequently used entries occupy the top level. More features can be configured there. The developers have announced further monthly improvements in small steps—for Windows 11 26H1 and 26H2.

The updated Insider previews contain more than usability improvements. Administrator Protection is intended to grant permissions for tasks “just in time”—that is, exactly when they are needed—and to use a separate profile for this purpose. Unlike the familiar User Account Control, it will remain disabled by default and can be enabled, for example, through group policies. The post-quantum algorithm ML-KEM can also be used for TLS key exchange, meaning the establishment of protected connections.

In practical terms, testers get more control over the interface, administrators gain new security options, and developers have to say goodbye to the old WMIC tool. WMIC is already missing from new installations of Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2; it cannot be installed afterward even as a “Feature on Demand.” The underlying Windows Management Instrumentation, or WMI, remains supported. For everyone else, the takeaway is that these are still Insider builds, not a general release.