Created attachment 170649 [details] KDE vs Windows 10 screenshot Make the taskbar 2-row (I have 80px on a second monitor). Open a few windows on that screen. In Windows 10 the buttons appear by rows, in KDE by colums (see attached screenshot) Sorting by a row is more preferable, since you know, that next program window is by the left and you move your glaze by a line. Column setting makes you shift your gaze in the checkers order, especially annoying when you have open 10+ windows from 4-5 programs. In taskbar options are tons of settings, but not this one.
Can reproduce.
*** Bug 489520 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
This is not a bug but intentional behavior. Previously we had the options named something like "group by row/group by column", but were (with good criteria) changed to the current ones which are generally more clear, but it may it look like a bug on some cases. That said, it is a behavior that can be changed (not as trivial as you may think but not complex). The first problem is that there are surely users that use and are used to the current behavior, and a change like this would mess up their set-ups, and then they would probably report a bug in the opposite direction. A clear case are those that set the Task Manager to not fully expand but occupy minimum space. In that case they expect the tasks to be filled by column to achieve this. Another thing to consider is why to show several rows even if some of them are empty space. The "group by row" option already solves this by showing only rows with tasks on them, which give the tasks more space for the text and a higher click surface. The only difference with the proposed alternative is that the tasks would compress first until their minimum width, before adding a second row. There's the possibility to create yet another new option, but unfortunately the Task Manager is already at the verge of an option creep, and the combinations between them multiply (as an example the case I mentioned). In case we add one, I'd rather have this option be "how much do we compress the the tasks before starting a new row" than one to always show two rows but fill them left-to-right first. Not closing as intentional because there's a discussion on how to act on this, but having all the above concerns in mind.
I'm trying to move to Linux from Windows, but still can't, one of it is this small but annoying problem. :( My second monitor is in portrait mode, so there is plenty of vertical space and since I use many programs on this monitor I set it for for two-row taskbar. Windows has only "group by row" preset. And for me the "by column" is bad, since, as I have explained in the first bug comment: looking by a line for a same program second and more window is quicker, than you have to move your eyes zigzag. I set the taskbar for two-row myself, so it is not a problem that there is a free space. On the second screen I have: 1. Two Firefox Developer edition: 1 x Google Docs and 1 x Yandex music 2. Telegram 3. Skype 4. Thunderbird windows + 3-4 open and not sent e-mail windows 5. Some LibreOffice docs & sheets I got by e-mail (for personal I use Google Docs) 6. Some pdfs I got by e-mail
Created attachment 173958 [details] This is my setup with second vertical monitor and two-row taskbar I have found a screenshot from my post of trying migrating to Linux: https://habr.com/ru/articles/810829. Here you can see my setup and the weird thing is, that on the screenshot programs are grouped by row... My habr.com was made on 26.04.2024, this bug I filled on KDE 6.0.5, so it seems the behavior was changed in that time frame.
BTW I have installed Kubuntu 24.04 and in KDE 5.27 there was default "group by a row". So, the "group by column" is some after KDE 6.0.0 change... PS KDE 6.0.3 in Fedora 40 release iso already has the "group by column". I assume the change was made in 6.0 -> 6.0.3 time frame.