Microsoft is working on new experiences for Windows that will allow developers to enable pinning for third-party applications, as well as enable pinning to the Taskbar.

Microsoft recently announced the details of these upcoming functions in a blog post. This is the brand’s attempt to universalize its pinning process across all apps used on Windows. In practice, it will be similar to how pinning works on the Edge browser, with the Windows 11 users being notified by the Action Center about a request for pinning to the Taskbar by the app in question.

Microsoft said this optimization of Windows will “empower developers to take advantage of our open platform.”

The company laid out three commitments it aims to achieve in allowing developers to explore this Windows support of third-party apps.

• We will ensure people who use Windows are in control of changes to their pins and their defaults.
• We will provide a common supported way for application developers to offer the ability to make their app the default or pin their app to the taskbar. This will provide users a consistent experience across all apps.
• Microsoft apps will use the same common supported methods for pinning and defaults.

Microsoft will provide developers with the “deep link URI for applications” required to extend pinning support to applications outside the Windows ecosystem. Windows Insiders on the Dev Channel will also receive updates for these functions in the coming months.

Microsoft has experimented with many Taskbar features for Windows 11, including testing out the search bar in the Taskbar in Windows 11 Insider Preview (Build 25158), and the task overflow bar in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25163. These features ultimately didn’t make it into the final build of Windows 11, which was released in late 2022. However, those who were a part of the Windows Insiders Dev Channel did get a first look at some of Microsoft’s interesting ideas.

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