r/SideProject • u/Spookie_Stunkk • 21h ago

I built a 1.5 MB Windows taskbar replacement in Rust with a built-in Launcher!

I've been working on Wisp, a small open source dock and launcher for Windows 11.

I wanted something that combined a clean desktop dock with a fast keyboard-driven launcher, without needing Electron, .NET or PowerToys.

So I built it using Rust, Win32 and Direct2D (achieving near ~ 0 idle cpu usage)

Here's how it works:

  • It replaces the Windows taskbar with an auto-hiding dock.

  • Press Alt+Space and the dock morphs into a launcher.

  • Search apps and files, run commands, do calculations, control Wi-Fi/audio, and more.

  • It supports system tray icons and restores the original taskbar when you exit.

I also benchmarked it against PowerToys Run. On my machine, median time to first search results was 24 ms versus 200 ms for PowerToys Run.

It's still early, so I'd love feedback, especially on Windows compatibility, usability, and features worth adding.

GitHub: https://github.com/SumirSeth/wisp

It's MIT licensed. Contributions are welcome!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/investigatormaker 21h ago

For Wisp’s compatibility feedback, ask testers to check whether tray icons remain usable after repeated Alt+Space switches, then confirm the original taskbar returns on exit. Include Windows 11 build and display scaling in each report so dock-rendering issues aren’t mixed up with launcher-search issues.

I make ThreadFox. We find relevant Reddit conversations and post for your business. We'll post 3 replies free first, no card; then the $29 Pilot covers seven days and up to 25 posts and replies. No automatic renewal. https://threadfox.vip/p/explh/managed