Personally, I got sick of MS's attitude with their taskbar and start menu changes they made to Windows 11 and just installed StartAllBack. Sure it's not free, but it gave me back 95% of the functionality that Microsoft took away and more.

still waiting for a native vertical taskbar.

It's funny... when you test things, you don't stay too long with any version of anything. I only used 10 so long as it was on the test bed... and when 11 started hitting the scene, 10 became a distant memory. I see 10 on machines at work, medical centers... so it isn't going anywhere any time soon, as those upgrades take time and a whole lot of testing/money. Personally, stick to what works for you... for me, I can barely remember how to use 10, much less like the flat UI look that MS decided it was going to use. And for the comment that Windows 7 is just Vista rebranded... don't. Just don't.

That's a unique way of telling us you missed out on Windows Me and Windows Vista.

It is unfortunate that I am not likely to receive an answer to the question.