[Feature]: Add taskbar and Start menu layout customization

[mchave3]

Affected scope

project: foundry

Problem to solve

Foundry OSD currently does not provide a way to customize the Windows taskbar pins or Start menu layout during OS deployment. Administrators who want a consistent first logon experience must handle this with external scripts, policy, provisioning packages, or manual post-deployment configuration.

Proposed solution

Add Windows layout customization options in Foundry OSD for deployed Windows 11 devices.

The feature should support:

• Configuring additional taskbar pinned apps.
• Configuring Start menu pinned apps or links.
• Generating the required layout files during media creation.
• Applying the layout during deployment before first user sign-in.
• Keeping the configuration optional and disabled by default.

The implementation should follow Windows 11 deployment constraints:

• Start menu layout should use LayoutModification.json.
• Taskbar layout should use the supported taskbar layout XML/policy approach.
• The UI should validate entries before media creation, especially app identifiers, .lnk paths, and unsupported combinations.

Alternatives considered

Administrators can currently configure taskbar and Start layout outside Foundry through GPO, Intune, provisioning packages, or custom scripts. This works, but it requires extra tooling and makes the Foundry deployment profile less complete.

Use case

A system administrator wants deployed Windows 11 machines to start with a consistent enterprise layout, such as File Explorer, Company Portal, Edge, Remote Desktop, or internal tools pinned in predictable locations.

Checklist

• I searched for existing issues before submitting this request.
• This request describes a specific improvement, not a general question.