FalconX is an open source program that can center the taskbar icons

Ashwin
Nov 21, 2019
Updated • Nov 21, 2019
Software, Windows software
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20

One area in Windows that has not evolved over different versions that much is the taskbar. Microsoft made the last fundamental change to it when it released Windows 7. The company made several minor adjustments in recent versions of Windows but that is about it. FalconX is an open source tool that adds new functionality to the operating system's taskbar.

The application is also known as Center Taskbar or Falcon, and we have reviewed it back in 2018 for the last time. Windows 7 users could also use a manual method to center taskbar items.

Windows taskbar default look

FalconX is a portable application. Run the program and your taskbar icons will now be placed smack-dab in the middle of the taskbar. This gives a dock-like experience and some users may find the icons easier to reach as a consequence.

The program sits on the system tray and you can access its options by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Settings".

FalconX taskbar settings

Animation

You can choose the animation style from the Settings Screen. FalconX has 42 animations to choose from and if you don't like any of those, you can disable animation completely. There is an option to adjust the animation speed, which you can set by using the slider or enter the precise ms (Millisecond) number in the box.

Position

You can set the offset position of the taskbar, in terms of pixels. The default value is 0 and you may adjust it using a slider or by entering values manually; This is useful if you want to move the taskbar to a particular position, for e.g. towards the right side of the screen.

Taskbar Style

FalconX has three taskbar styles that you can choose from: Transparent, Blur and Acrylic. The last one is marked as unstable by the developer, but it worked pretty well during tests.

FalconX taskbar appearance

The styles are disabled by default, so technically the default Windows 10 style acts as a fourth option. The Blur style adds a frosted glass effect to the taskbar, while the Transparent setting offers an immersive experience. You can view the changes immediately without having to restart the application.

FalconX taskbar blur style

Here's what the Acrylic style looks like.

FalconX taskbar acrylic look

You can still apply Windows' own Taskbar customizations such as changing the icon size or enabling auto-hide.

Note: If you have auto-hide enabled for the taskbar and choose a style in FalconX, the taskbar will not apply the effect based on the wallpaper, rather it uses the color of the current window. So, if you're on a webpage with a white theme, the taskbar turns white-ish, and the system tray becomes nearly unreadable. This isn't an issue if you don't use auto-hide.

The refresh button reloads the application. You can enable the "Run at Startup" option to make the program load during Windows' boot. If you have the Search Bar enabled on your taskbar, you can enable the "Center between Start or Search" option in FalconX, and the program will center the icons between the two Windows UX elements.

FalconX works with multiple monitors as well. Though it is available for free from GitHub, an optional paid version is available from the Windows Store.

Closing Words

The program is quite light-weight and used about 2MB of memory and less than 1% of the CPU (usually about 0.2%) during my tests. When the Settings screen was in view, i.e., when the program switches from a background task to a foreground app, the memory usage was a bit higher but still under 7MB memory and 3% CPU usage.

Falcon X

For Windows

Summary
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Author Rating
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2.5 based on 26 votes
Software Name
FalconX
Operating System
Windows
Software Category
System
Price
Free
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Comments

  1. Ozzy said on November 23, 2019 at 4:25 pm
    Reply

    As if I’d like to destroy my windows aesthetics wit this Mac like trash.

  2. owl said on November 23, 2019 at 4:19 am
    Reply

    System Requirements:
    FalconX Centers Taskbar Icons with Animations in Windows 10 | TrishTech.com
    https://www.trishtech.com/2019/07/falconx-centers-taskbar-icons-with-animations-in-windows-10/
    The version available from the author’s website is portable and does not require any installation. For using FalconX, you must have Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7 installed in your Windows 10 PC. All versions of Windows 10 after and including version 1803 have no problem running FalconX.

  3. owl said on November 23, 2019 at 3:42 am
    Reply

    As always, I give thanks to the great article of Ashwin.
    I didn’t know about the app, but I felt interested in it through this article.
    Certainly, the “Win ​​10 taskbar” has been just as dissatisfaction as opinion of Ashwin.

    Negative opinions are conspicuous in “Comments”, but when I actually tested it, I realized the appeal and performance of FalconX.
    This app solves the shortcomings of the taskbar, and no negative elements are found.
    This app is supported by the open source project hosting site “Github”.

    My Rating: ★★★★★

    It should be objective and positivism when posting “Comments”, but at least the official homepage should be checked.
    Comments that are sloppy and misguided are too rude to introducer and developers.

    The following is a reprint from the official homepage:
    Chris Andriessen | FalconX (Center Taskbar)
    https://chrisandriessen.nl/web/FalconX.html
    FalconX gives you control over the position of your taskbar icons.

    FalconX will give you an original Windows dock like feel. The icons will move to the center or user given position when an icon gets added or removed from the taskbar. You will be given the option to choose between a variety of different animations and change their speeds. The animations can be disabled if you don’t like animations and want them to move in an instant. The center position can also be changed to bring your icons more to the left or right based on the center position. Currently all taskbar settings are supported including the vertical taskbar. And Multiple taskbars :)

    ChrisAnd1998/FalconX-Center-Taskbar | GitHub
    https://github.com/ChrisAnd1998/FalconX-Center-Taskbar
    https://github.com/ChrisAnd1998/FalconX-Center-Taskbar
    Features
    ● 42 different Animations including “none”
    ● 0% CPU Usage at Idle (Very optimized and lightweight looping)
    ● Change animation speed
    ● Change custom offset position based on center
    ● Center between startbutton, search, taskview etc… and left tray icons, clock etc…
    ● All taskbar settings supported
    ● Vertical taskbar supported
    ● Multiple monitors supported max (3)
    ● Change taskbar style to Transparent, Blur and Acrylic

    Downloads
    ● FREE | Simple .zip package : https://chrisandriessen.nl/web/FalconX.html
    ● PAID | Windows Store : https://www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9PCMZ6BXK8GH

    References
    ● VisualEffects | https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/827808/Control-Animation-in-Winforms
    ● UIAComWrapperX | https://github.com/technoscavenger/UIAComWrapperX

    FalconX-changelog.html
    https://chrisandriessen.nl/web/FalconX-changelog.html

  4. a said on November 21, 2019 at 9:00 pm
    Reply

    ”…and the program will center the icons between the two Windows UX elements.”
    lmao wtf do you even know what UX stands for?

  5. Franck said on November 21, 2019 at 8:02 pm
    Reply

    Thank you so much for this detailed review !

    I used CenterTaskbar (https://github.com/mdhiggins/CenterTaskbar) that works well but has fewer options.

  6. Tsami said on November 21, 2019 at 7:09 pm
    Reply

    Surprising number of negative or dismissive comments. I use two large monitors, and without FalconX, each monitor’s icons are positioned to the left of the displays, making the left-hand monitor’s icons somewhat out of reach.

    FalconX allows positioning the left screen’s taskbar icons toward the right, just short of the notification area, resulting in both monitor’s icons being closer to the center of the combined monitors’ workspace. Very helpful. (On my Win10 1909 system, no problems with SmartScreen.)

    1. Yuliya said on November 21, 2019 at 8:07 pm
      Reply

      WinKey+1
      WinKey+2


      WinKey+9
      WinKey+0

  7. George said on November 21, 2019 at 6:37 pm
    Reply

    Thanks, I could use this. Will try it soon.

  8. Superevil said on November 21, 2019 at 5:51 pm
    Reply

    Or you could just use Nexus Ultimate and get a real dock for you Windows machine. I’ve been using it for over half a year now and I don’t even use the taskbar anymore.

  9. wantfrieswiththat said on November 21, 2019 at 5:36 pm
    Reply

    Not bad, but quite trivial. Had to turn off SmartScreen to install it. Will try it out for a while I guess. zzzzz….

  10. Yuliya said on November 21, 2019 at 4:55 pm
    Reply

    Horrible. You align things to the left, not centre. Allow right side to expand while maintaining the position of everything else. I always know where to click to open Chromium, or AIMP, even without looking at the screen, because those icons position never moves.

    1. j said on November 21, 2019 at 7:02 pm
      Reply

      I think this is to mirror the MacOS Dock. There is another application (don’t remember the name, sorry) that used in conjuntion with FalconX make it look exactly like the MacOS Dock.

    2. stefann said on November 21, 2019 at 5:52 pm
      Reply

      @Yuliya >>> I couldn’t agree more. This software is BS in my eyes.

      In Windows 7 i still use the classic taskbar due to i can add more links than in the crappy new “pin-it”-taskbar.

      gHacks slowly now transform in to a Softonic site…..

  11. Bug said on November 21, 2019 at 3:01 pm
    Reply

    Or you can just add an empty toolbar to the taskbar in front of all app icons. ;)

    1. Ray said on November 25, 2019 at 8:30 am
      Reply

      I do this currently, but it’s a bit of a manual process. Since the memory usage appears to be rather light for FalconX, I’ll look into giving this a shot.

      Thanks Ashwin!

      1. owl said on November 26, 2019 at 1:35 pm
        Reply

        @Ray:
        Since the memory usage appears to be rather light for FalconX, I’ll look into giving this a shot.

        In my case (Windows 10 x64 Version 1903 build 18362.476):
        https://i.imgur.com/OQ7DSKD.png
        I am happy with FalconX. There are no dissatisfied.

  12. Anonymous said on November 21, 2019 at 2:44 pm
    Reply

    This download link through “softonic.com” is a bad thing. I never click there. I go to the publisher’s website instead. ghacks.net quality worsens by the day. Pity.

    1. Thomas said on November 25, 2019 at 11:02 am
      Reply

      Well, there had to be a downside to gHack being bought by Softonic, hadn’t there? I’m glad the overall look and feel of the site hasn’t changed. It’s always a good idea to download software directly from the original creator, not from 3rd party sites, be it gHacks, Softonic or whatever. As long as gHacks still provides links to the original creators in its reviews, I’m fine with that.

    2. Darren said on November 21, 2019 at 10:27 pm
      Reply

      Just follow the link in the summary box and get on with your life. Life’s just so tough. So much to cry about.

    3. Martin Brinkmann said on November 21, 2019 at 2:57 pm
      Reply

      Just click on the link in the summary box to open the developer site.

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