The new Windows 8 Task Manger has been redesigned and it is more user-friendly to power users and even casual users.
Microsoft has revealed the improvements that they made and continue making in the new Task Manager for Windows 8. So, what is new? Well, starting Windows 8 there is no more dizzying cascade of weird names like splwow64.exe or stacsv64.exe; no more endless and unsorted process. Now when launching the new Windows 8’s Task Manager, all you see is only the applications that are currently running in your system. This makes a lot easier to figure out what program is not responding and getting rid off the problematic program is as easy as selecting the program and clicking End task — the new Task Manger’s user interface will be easy to use even for casual users..
But there is always going to be the time, when you’ll have to go deeper into the process to troubleshoot something that is clogging the system. In this case you can click More Details to get into the “advanced mode” and view all the processes with a lot more details. And they are not just listed there, Microsoft grouped all the associated processes together, making easier to identify each application in use on a system, and now they also have given them names that we all can understand, which also give you a hint of what each process do. If you need more information, no problem, just right-click the process and click on Search the Web.
One killer feature for the new Task Manager is the heat maps, the applications, processes and windows that are chewing your system resources will change colors, allowing you to easily find the program that is causing problems and kill it right on the spot.
Microsoft redesigned the new Task Manager by taking in consideration how users utilize the Task Manager in existing versions of Windows. With the data collected the software giant discovered that users spend most of their time in the first two tabs (Applications and Processes), and also determined that the tool was only used to end or kill an application or a process.
Microsoft focused on these changes building Windows 8:
- Optimize the Task Manger for the most common scenarios
- Do not remove functionality
- Use modern information design to achieve functional goals
Watch this demo video to learn more about the new Task Manger in Windows 8
This is just another way for Microsoft to show that they are listening to its users. The company’s overhaul efforts on the Task Manager are intuitive and intelligent. Now it’s going to be much easier to start troubleshooting potential trouble spots, thanks to the simplicity and heat map, while the ability to search on the web for additional information for a specific process will save time to decide if you should kill that process without getting the new blue screen of death.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].