When I first switched to the M4 Mac Mini, one of the most frustrating parts of the experience was getting used to the dock and some of the limitations that came with it. It just didn’t feel as good as using the taskbar on a Windows PC. I’ve grown accustomed to macOS since then, but even so, I can see why there would be a market for replacing the macOS dock with a taskbar more akin to that of Windows.
uBar is an app that answers that specific request. It’s essentially a taskbar for your Mac, and from my short time with it, it seems like a fairly competent one. While I don’t see myself sticking with it full-time, I think Windows converts will find themselves much more at home with this tool. Here are my impressions of using uBar on my M4 Mac Mini.
It’s an actual taskbar
App labels and window switching made easier
It can’t be understated how nice it is to have an actual taskbar on a Mac. I still find the Dock to be a pretty poor way to juggle your open apps and windows, as every window from the same app is shown together and it’s not very easy to switch between them. uBar gives a proper taskbar that’s highly customizable. You can choose to show labels for each app or window, and importantly, you can make it so every window is shown separately on the taskbar. If you choose not to do that, you can also just see a number counter next to the
There’s quite a bit of customization here. In addition to what I just mentioned, you can choose whether uBar appears at the bottom of the screen or any of the other edges, and align items to the left or to the center of your screen, just like on Windows 11. You can change a wide range of other settings, such as whether apps without open windows should appear on the taskbar, and choose to show extra elements like a clock, a volume indicator, and so on. This volume indicator actually lets you quickly adjust system volume by spinning the scroll wheel over the icon, which is also a great feature to have.
There are other nice details on this taskbar, like app badges for notifications, or progress bars for things like downloads. uBar goes above and beyond to replicate Windows features as much as possible.
And it might just be better than the one in Windows 11
Of course, you can’t have a Windows-style taskbar without a Windows-style Start menu, right? uBar delivers on this too, and it’s very interesting in that it almost feels more like the classic Start menu many wish Windows would go back to. This simple menu shows you your primary user folders, such as Documents, Downloads, Pictures, and Music. You can also add folders of your choice here, making it that much easier to get to the files you need more often.
Most importantly, it also has your Applications folder, giving you a much more convenient way to launch your apps compared to Apple’s Launchpad, which is just terrible for a PC. All the essential elements of a Start menu are here, even including links to System Settings (with deep links for specific sections), and the options for shutting down, restarting, or putting the computer to sleep. It really does feel like a Start menu of the past, but that’s probably a good thing for many Windows users.
Customization options
There’s a lot
I’ve already touched on a lot of the customization options available, but it’s worth highlighting again that uBar has a lot to offer. If you dive into the app settings, you can change the size of items on the taskbar, configure it to have a border or remove it, change whether there should be separators between different sections, opt between a full-width taskbar or a more Dock-like look, and so much more.
In addition to adding your own folders, you can remove some of the system and user folders from the Start menu, or even options like logging out or locking the screen, which may be unnecessary if no one else is using your space. There’s even more you can customize, like adding an analog clock that appears when you mouse over the clock on the taskbar.
One of the more useful options here is Dock-less mode, which will prevent the Dock from popping up when you move your mouse over to the bottom of the screen. This way, uBar can fully replace that experience and there’s no confusion. It really does make the experience feel a lot more like Windows.
There are some issues
It’s not perfect
As much as uBar gets right, I did experience some issues with the app every now and then. The first one is the fact that even if you choose to hide apps without active windows, Finder will always appear on the taskbar, which takes up space unnecessarily. You can exclude Finder from being shown, but then it also won’t appear when you do have a Finder window open, so it’s not perfect.
Another problem, albeit a smaller one, is that when I right-click an app on the taskbar, the menu options always seem top appear a good but above the taskbar, rather than directly above it. It’s not a big deal, but it just feels like it wasn’t meant to be that way. I’d guess the options may be appearing at the standard height they would appear at when right-clicking the macOS Dock, so there may be a small bug there.
I also experienced a weird bug with window management where, even after I closed an Opera Air window, it kept appearing in the taskbar, though I was completely unable to interact with it in any way. It just got stuck there, and I imagine it’s because uBar needs to use an accessibility service to know what windows are open, which can sometimes cause glitches. That being said, I also use AltTab, which works similarly, and did not experience the same bug there.
Should you replace the macOS Dock with uBar?
Realistically, only you can answer this question. Many would say that attempting to convert macOS into Windows is a fruitless effort, but I can definitely understand missing the functionality of a taskbar. That being said, I do think there’s some problems that arise with a setup like this. The taskbar can’t completely replace the menu bar, meaning you’ll have an extra UI element taking up space on your screen.
Also, from a personal perspective, I’d rather just use AltTab and a launcher like Raycast to launch apps and switch between them, so while all the features here are cool to have, I can’t see myself paying to use them long-term.
Still, the work that’s been put into uBar and making it feel like a proper taskbar is impressive. If you’ve been finding it hard to get used to macOS, I say give the free trial a shot and see how it works for you.
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source: https://www.xda-developers.com/hands-on-ubar-macos-taskbar-for-those-who-cant-let-go-windows/
