Yes, it actually works. But I have a problem: The tray icons can all be loaded, and the taskbar menu works well.
It is not intended for 23H2. On 23H2 the Win10 taskbar can be enabled easier.
I've now tested this on 24H2 as well. The results are identical except for the network issue. The network tray icon in the taskbar doesn't load. When I click on "System Icons," the network option (Yes/No) is blank, and even if I select "Yes," it still doesn't load. Additionally, the X-menu in the Start button isn't functioning. Replacing explorer.exe with versions from the 20H2 final release didn't resolve the issue either.
I have the issue that the language name in the language indicator (such as "ENG") is turned vertically rather than horizontally. Anyone has tthis issue?
I have the issue that the language name in the language indicator (such as "ENG") is turned vertically rather than horizontally. Anyone has tthis issue?
Replaced the Explorer with Server 2022's and that one also seems to work but has the same issues as the one from that Vibranium beta. (maybe gonna try grabbing a German MUI file from said build and seeing if it fixes the context menus, don't think that will do anything though)
Edit: Microsoft did a really funny move and removed all of the Menu resources out of explorer's MUI file in 24h2 so might be one of the reasons why the context menus don't work on 24h2.
Replaced the Explorer with Server 2022's and that one also seems to work but has the same issues as the one from that Vibranium beta. (maybe gonna try grabbing a German MUI file from said build and seeing if it fixes the context menus, don't think that will do anything though)
Replaced the Explorer with Server 2022's and that one also seems to work but has the same issues as the one from that Vibranium beta. (maybe gonna try grabbing a German MUI file from said build and seeing if it fixes the context menus, don't think that will do anything though)
Decided to do this on my host instaid of a vm (with server 2022's explorer) and i got the context menus loaded. (had to put the en-us mui)
From the testing i did with this i can quickly list what doesn't work.
the network tray icon is just gone fully
start menu always opens in the middle
notifications sometimes crash explorer
notifications and notification center overlap the taskbar
Win + X is broken (as in early 21h2 when you ran with undockingdisabled set)
uwp apps do not show up (win32 does)
the language tray is vertical
the settings app doesn't apply any changes to the taskbar (adding / disabling stuff still works via the context menu)
The rest seems to just work as intended, even the removed People Bar works (couldn't test ep's weather with it cause it won't hook into explorer obviously).
It is a shame they removed the Win10 taskbar just a few months before the Win11 24H2 release, even in the cumulative minor update that usually does not change features, as if it was nothing notable. We could have Windows Server 2025 with Win10 taskbar...
Maybe we could use old W11 explorer (still contains the old taskbar) together with old EP? (As new builds flag 24H2 as impossible to use old taskbar.) Or - maybe this is possible with Windhawk: (old) Explorer.exe could draw the old taskbar while original explorer would be still in its place (treated with EP and/or Windhawk mods, to be Classic Theme) + start menu with Open-Shell.
Maybe we could use old W11 explorer (still contains the old taskbar) together with old EP? (As new builds flag 24H2 as impossible to use old taskbar.) Or - maybe this is possible with Windhawk: (old) Explorer.exe could draw the old taskbar while original explorer would be still in its place (treated with EP and/or Windhawk mods, to be Classic Theme) + start menu with Open-Shell.
Already tried this, EP doesn't hook explorer in this setup at all.
