RetroBar

With Windows 10, large icons have replaced text labels and multiple instances of the same app are neatly stacked together into one icon in the taskbar. Without denying that Windows 10 manages to keep things neat and simple, some may prefer having the old taskbar.

As the name suggests, RetroBar is a tool designed to change the standard taskbar of modern Windows versions to the classic versions of Windows 95, 98, 2000, Windows Me and XP. According to the developer, the tool is based on a library used for Creating shell replacements via .NET dubbed ManagedShell, so there should not be any compatibility or performance issues.

The idea behind the tool is to completely replace the modern taskbar with an old school alternative. Consequently, only one taskbar is available at a time and reverting to the new taskbar entails closing the app. Other noteworthy features of the new taskbar include a start button that opens the modern start menu, native notification area, show and hide clock as well as native task list with UWP app support.

The developer states that the tool comes with Theme support and hence, custom themes can be added. To create a custom theme, users need to access the Themes folder and place a valid XAML theme file there.