Ben Smith is a writer based in Los Angeles, California who has been covering consumer tech for at least five years. He's written thousands of articles for various sites about laptops, tablets, and ...

Q. Your April article (“Optimize Windows 11 With These 8 Settings Tweaks“) had good tips for adjusting the Start menu and taskbar, but I’d like to do more. How can I go deeper into customization? A.

With Windows 11, it’s not just the taskbar that’s been locked in place — the design limitations have seeped everywhere. The new Windows appears modern, but it has stripped away several handy features ...