Windows 8 Task Manager: Can Microsoft see the forest for the trees?

The bu about Redmond’s upcoming release of Windows 8 has been clogging up the intertubes lately. Fanboys and haters alike have been testing the developer release, and either pointing out what they think is stellar, or another weak attempt by Microsoft to keep their product relevant.

Adding to that, the Windows 8 team has kept a running development blog, introducing the different things that they feel the public should get excited about with them. The current feature that has people talking are the changes to the task manager in Win 8, and how much work and study has been put into how the end user actually uses the program. Updating software to make it better for the end user is always a great idea, as is taking feedback from said users. But the question arises when thinking about the updates, why would MS continue to implement a huge application that forces an end user to hunt for what is eating up system resources? Why wouldn’t they create a much easier way to kill an app or a task that the user knows is derping up their system?

As mentioned above, credit does need to be given to the development team for at least doing some quality research on how people are using task manager. There is some great analysis that is reported on the Building Windows 8 blog that shows the lengths they went to.

First of all, the Windows 8 team wanted to find out how people use the Windows 7 Task Manager. Not surprisingly, users seek the Applications and Processes tabs 85% of the time, illustrating that people are using Task Manager to either see what is running on their system, or to kill an unresponsive app or process that is messing with their productivity.

Next the team wanted to find out the reason for viewing the Applications and Processes tabs, and again, big surprise: users want to see which apps are using the most CPU time. Finally, the telemetry pointed out that ending processes is by far the most common action in Task Manager: 32% of all clicks are used to kill processes; the next-most-common action is at 3% (clicking the View menu).

Armed with this information, Microsoft came up with the following goals for the Windows 8 Task Manager:

1. Optimi ing the Task Manager for the most commonly used services


2. Moderni e the design to display info


3. Work to not sacrifice functionality

These are great goals for sure, and at first blush they’re exactly what you’d want from an updated Task Manager — but they’re actually way, way off base. This may not be a popular stance, but after reading the results of what people use Task Manager for, perhaps there should be one simple goal for the team: Create a way for the user to end a process or a program with one key combo.

Computing is no longer in the era of creating big, bloated programs to achieve the end result. If we have learned nothing from the mobile revolution taking place it is that small, lightweight apps are winning the day. Why not create a much easier way for the end user to achieve common actions?

There are many reasons that may not be apparent for sure, but it would seem to be the better route to go. Instead, the team outlines the changes that they have made to the Task Manager, which feels really like nothing more than a reorgani ation of information to try to make it easier to read and move through.

With all that being said, there are some improvements to the task manager that need to be applauded since the reality is that the task manager is here to stay for the time being.

1. The new “heat map” to see what is eating up your resources at a glance

This is a handy addition as it will make it easier to eyeball quickly which application is giving you grief.

2. Sorting of running applications and processes

Another useful feature so that people who are less experienced with the inner workings of Windows can understand which items may or may not be safe to kill.

3. Sorting of open features by application

Probably the most helpful of the visual information changes, this view will help to further isolate troublesome issues. This one feels the most thought out, since right now a user has to slough their way through a list of processes that they may not know about at all.

Again, while it is great that Microsoft is looking to improve its product for the end user, perhaps its thinking needs to be readjusted on how to streamline this process. More advanced users who need deeper info are using other tools out there anyhow; why not give the everyday user a simple way to keep their machines at the highest level of productivity?

Windows 8 Task Manager: Can Microsoft see the forest for the trees?