I have tried a reg hack, which worked pretty well, but it kept resetting after every update. And changing the registries I did (don't recall which I changed or if they still work.) also came with some annoying issues, like window preview still show on top of taskbar (so outside of your screen) among other thing.

I also preferred to have a smaller taskbar which is also no longer possible.

So I have given up and resorted to a bottom taskbar on autohide. But even that has some wonky interactions, with for example windows + tab, where there is a nice shade behind your different virtual desktops, but it stops at the original location of the taskbar.