OK, you might not share my passion for the Windows XP taskbar, which is fine (I guess). But maybe you miss the simple grey ...

The Windows taskbar is locked by default ... Kinda 10, and Remastered 7. From the wizard window, click on the Taskbar from the vertical menu available on the left. You can then right-click ...

Users can pin programs and folders permanently on the Taskbar for quick access, even quicker than pinning them on the Start menu (see Win Start menu). Windows 7 and 10 use the same procedure ...