Microsoft says three goals guided development of the new task
manager, which is intended to appeal to non-techies and power users
alike. The company says it wants to create a task manager that is
optimized for common tasks (killing apps and processes), using a modern
and functional interface, but without cutting out the favorite functions
of power users.
For most users, the result is that Windows 8 won't inundate you with a
long list of unfriendly-looking processes like the task managers in
Vista and Windows 7. Instead, the new OS shows a simplified list of
programs that you can expand if you need to go beyond simply killing an
app.
A Simpler Task Manager
After
studying user habits in Windows 7, Microsoft found that 85 percent of
all task manager usage centers around the Applications and Processes
tabs. This discovery isn't that surprising since most people use the
task manager to simply kill off an application or process that isn't
responding.
Force Quit Dialog in OS X 10.5, Leopard. Source: Macworld So
instead of seeing a long list of information you don't need, all you'll
see when you open the Windows 8 task manager for the first time is a
simple list of apps. You'll see no tabs, no menu bar, no statistics --
just apps. If a program is having a problem, a "Not Responding" note
will appear next to the application name. This approach is similar to
Apple's interface for killing applications in OS X.
Microsoft has simplified the basic task manager so much that you
won't get a double prompt asking you if you're certain you want to kill a
process. If you select the "End Task" button in Windows 8, the
operating system will kill the process and the program will be told to
shut down. Microsoft warns you to be careful with the new task manager,
because Windows 8 won't prompt you to save your work before shutting
something down.
Details, Details
Power
users looking for a more information on what's going on in their system
can still get it by clicking the "More details" button. This will open
up a more familiar tabbed view for the task manager, but Microsoft has
also made some important tweaks to this view as well.
First, all processes are grouped by type, such as which application
they belong to, all background processes, or operating system processes.
As with other Windows groupings, you can click on the left side of each
app or process to expand the list and drill deeper into what your
system is running. This will let you see, for example, how many Outlook
windows are open or how many processes a specific service is running in
the background.
Microsoft
is also highlighting right at the top of the detail view percentages
for CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. The top indicator for each
category shows your overall usage, and then breaks it down by groups.
A heat map is also supplied to help you identify which applications
are sucking up your system resources. The more CPU or memory an app
uses, for example, the darker its statistics appear in the detail view.
Process
names are also friendlier, by using common names for processes instead
of cryptic terms such as "splwow64.exe." Did you know that means
"Printer driver host for applications"? I sure didn't, but I will in
Windows 8.
If adding friendlier names still doesn't help you understand why your
printer driver host is causing problems, Microsoft is adding a "Search
the Web" option when you right-click on a process. Clicking the search
option will open your default browser to a search results page with
information about the mystery process.
Microsoft has made some nice-looking improvements to the task manager
and simplified its view for those who don't need it. But here's another
interesting change: in the process of simplifying the task manager,
Microsoft adds an extra tab in the detail view compared to Windows 7
By(Pcworld.com)