The Windows Task Manager is one of the most widely used apps in the Windows operating system. It has a long history, having first showed up in early versions of Windows as a simple utility to close and switch between programs.
In Windows 3, the Task Manager was just a simple utility to close and switch between programs and over the years, several features and functionality has been added to it to make it what it is today in Windows 11. Using the Task Manager in Windows 7, you can now close applications, find out detailed data about your processes, start or stop services, to monitor your network adaptor, or even to perform basic system administrator tasks for currently logged-on users.
See how the Task Manager has evolved from Windows 3 to Windows 11.
Windows 8/10 goes a step further and adds much more. The Task Manager in Windows 8/10 will add many new features and even make changes to its UI.
The new Task Manager in Windows 10/8 looks much cleaner and focused now and does not overwhelm the user with too many details.
But should he require more details, he can always click on the More details button.
Now if a particular process consumes above-normal resources, the column header will change its color to red/orange to draw your attention to it. This is the Heat Map.
Task Manager in Windows 10
Task Manager in Windows 10 has several new features that might be handy for you. Whether you want to check the heat map or remove startup programs, everything is possible with the help of the Task Manager.
Task Manager in Windows 11
The first thing you will notice is that the menu and tabs have been moved from the top to the left side in Windows 11 Task Manager.
Here are some of the most important features and options you can see in the Windows 11/10 Task Manager:
Processes
It is the first tab you can find after opening the Task Manager on your Windows 11 computer. Here you can find mainly two different sections – Apps and Background processes. The Apps section displays all the currently opened apps that you can close. The latter section shows all the background processes that are currently running.
To close any running app or process, you need to select it and click on the End task button.
Performance
It is one of the most important parts of Windows 11 Task Manager. Whether you want to check the CPU performance or RAM, you can do both on this tab. It shows almost every important hardware information so that you can manage your computer fluently. On the other hand, it shows your RAM speed, number of threads, sockets, number of logical processors, whether virtualization is enabled or disabled, etc.
Depending upon the computer you are using, you can find the Wi-Fi information, Ethernet information, GPU performance report, etc.
App history
At times, you might want to check the uptime of a certain app due to any reason. If so, you can use this tab to collect such information. Whether you want to check the performance of Cortana, Groove Music, Microsoft Edge, or anything else, you can do so with the help of this tab of Task Manager.
Startup
If you want to improve your computer’s boot time, this tab is one of your companions. You can enable or disable certain programs from the startup so that you can get a better boot time. Whether it is Cortana, Spotify, or Microsoft OneDrive, you can add or remove any program from the startup.
Users
If your computer has multiple users and you want to know their uptime, app usage, etc., you can check out this tab in the Task Manager. It shows all the information related to your user account, apps, and more. Whether you have one or multiple user accounts, you can get similar information for all the users.
Details
The Details tab shows all the processes running for a particular app. Whether it is Adobe Photoshop, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or anything else, you can find each background process of all the apps in this tab. Following that, if you want, you can close any task as per your requirements.
Services
It is similar to the Details tab, but it shows all the services running in the background. You can all the services that are currently running to make your computer smoother in this tab. Whether you want to disable Windows Update or BITS, you can do so with the help of this tab. However, it doesn’t end a service directly. Instead, it helps you to know the current status of the services and lets you open the Services panel to get the job done.
Who invented Task Manager?
As per some sources, David Plummer is the inventor of Task Manager for the Windows operating system. However, things have evolved over the past few decades and since the launch of the first version of task Manager. In Windows 11, it is much better, smoother, and user-friendly than all the other older versions.
What does a Task Manager do?
Task Manager does several things. From ending a background process, app, service to disabling startup programs, you can do so many things with the help of Task Manager. However, the workflow depends on the version of Windows you are using. For example, the Windows 11 edition is probably the most useful form of Task Manager.
Learn how to use Windows Task Manager as an IT Pro.
