Oh no, they finally did it. I feel like Windows has some kind of fascination with taskbar grouping, every new version you have to specifically shut it off. They've finally gone and removed the choice. There is nothing in windows that annoys me more than taskbar grouping, I don't even have a rational basis for it, it just immediately annoys me when I see it.

It's not irrational IMO, it's a hassle in several ways compared to the "classic" behavior.

I honestly can't fathom for the life of me why taskbar grouping is even the default, or what problem it was supposed to solve. It is a terrible UI pattern.

I suspect every person that is aware of the option to revert has reverted, but a lot of people are used to deal with defaults and just don't want to waste energy fighting their OS and research stuff like that...

Exactly. The central menu is a good idea for ultrawide monitors, but forcing grouping seems to go a step backwards, especially if you cannot move the taskbar and you're on said ultrawide monitor.