The Register reports on ways to make the GNOME desktop resemble Windows 11, spurred by a new extension called Simple-taskbar that merges GNOME's top panel and side dock into a single Windows-style taskbar with a centred icon layout and a columned Start menu. The tool matters because it offers a more integrated alternative to existing patchwork solutions, though it remains a beta-stage community extension not yet listed on the official GNOME Extensions site, and, like all such extensions, is tied to a specific GNOME version and risks breaking after an upgrade.

The article contrasts several approaches: standalone extensions such as Dash to Panel (sponsored by Zorin OS) and Arc Menu, which require combining multiple tools; ready-made distributions such as Zorin OS and AnduinOS (now on version 2.0, based on Ubuntu 26.04), which build the Windows-like look in directly; and full desktop forks such as Linux Mint's Cinnamon and MATE. It highlights GNOME Flashback, a maintained continuation of the old GNOME Fallback mode, as a simpler and more stable option that avoids fragile extensions altogether—available by default in Debian 13 and installable on Ubuntu 26.04 (which ships GNOME 50) via a single apt command.