Windows 10 removes the Explorer.exe taskbar for better stability

A user named Albacore, who is dedicated to analyzing changes internally in Windows 10, has detected that Microsoft is beginning to move the code of the taskbar outside of Explorer.exe in your own file DLL called Taskbar.dll. Since the birth of Windows 10, Explorer.exe has been the program in charge of managing the user interface, including the taskbar, the start menu, open tasks and programs, and basically everything that has to do with graphic elements .

Taskbar exits Explorer.exe

Therefore, the company has decided take out from explorer Something as important as the taskbar indicates that your plans for the future involve being able to update it more quickly and easily to include what’s new. So far, all the big changes to the taskbar and start menu are made with each biennial update, but pulling it out of Explorer.exe will allow them update it as a system app more through the Microsoft Store.

The taskbar moves from Explorer.exe to Taskbar.dll. It’s surreal to see this carry over after decades. At this point, Explorer still contains the code, but it is possible to switch to the DLL implementation. There are still some weird bugs, like semi-broken search box UI. pic.twitter.com/2gNqcDNTzp

– Albacore (@thebookisclosed) March 25, 2021

In addition to making it easier to update, this can also improve its reliability, since all elements of the Windows 10 visual interface are interdependent on each other. If, for example, File Explorer gets caught and we force a restart of Explorer.exe, the whole interface restarts, including the task bar and the start menu, which can also stop responding if, for example, the browser hangs when passing a file. For this reason, this change should improve reliability by not affecting each other the hangs of different elements of the system.

The new bar still cannot be used

At the moment the file Taskbar.dll It is not in use by default by the operating system, but it can be configured to be used. Almost all the elements are functional, but the search bar is still not working properly, which is to be expected considering that this is a trial version.

This is not the only item that Microsoft has decoupled, as for years the system search has its own separate process to better integrate into both the start menu and File Explorer. In Windows 10 1903, the company introduced ShellExperienceHost to manage and display universal applications in windows, as well as other graphical elements. Finally, in Windows 100 1903, the HomemenuExperienceHost allowed the start menu to have its own process as well.

In exchange for greater reliability and easier updating, Windows 10 will also consume a little more RAM memory with this change. We will see if functions such as putting the vertical taskbar.