14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 19H1 will bring improvements in a wide variety of categories and it will significantly refine the experience with both applications that are part of the operating system and with Windows overall.
Task Manager itself is improving too, though not in the substantial manner that users expected. It’d get subtle tweaks here and there, like the option to set the new default tab when launching the app, but there’s no doubt that there’s still room for improvements, especially as more users find it quite a must-have application.
As I see it, there are three features that I’d like to have in Task Manager, and although there’s little chance they would be developed before the time the 19H1 update is finalized, Microsoft should at least have them in find for future updates.
Dark theme
First and foremost, it’s the dark theme. Windows 10 itself comes with a dark mode, and Microsoft has been particularly focused on updating its applications to align with this new visual style of the operating system.
Dark themes have been released for several applications in Windows 10, and while the OS itself has also received this facelift in Settings and in other key areas, Task Manager is yet to get such an overhaul.
A dark mode for Task Manager would basically seamlessly integrate the application into the modern interface of Windows 10, and because many users consider it a must-have tool, it would also bring them an eagerly-awaited refresh.
Sooner or later, Microsoft will roll out a dark mode for Task Manager, there’s no doubt about it, but as we learned the hard way, it could take longer than some are willing to wait.
Search option and filters
As the Task Manager improves, it should also get more advanced functionality that’s currently available in third-party tools like Process Explorer.
For example, a search option and filters would really come in handy, especially when trying to quickly find a specific process.
What you can do right now is click the list of processes and then press the key on your keyboard that represents the first letter in the name. However, it’s not really a convenient workaround, so Microsoft should consider improving Task Manager in this regard.
Also, a system tray indicator that would display information on a specific process would also be pretty helpful. At this point, Windows 10 does allow you to minimize Task Manager to tray, and hovering the icon shows information like CPU, memory, disk, and network usage.
Notifications and alerts
One feature that I would consider very helpful is support for alerts. With some browsers, including Google Chrome, eating up a considerable amount of time, it would be great if Task Manager allowed us to set alerts whenever a specific threshold is reached.
Basically, Task Manager could issue a notification whenever a specific processor eats up too many resources, potentially slowing down the system and eventually impacting performance.
Overall, all these options would do nothing more than provide users with more control over their systems. Certainly, they aren’t aimed at average users, but at those more experienced who actually need such applications.
But with Microsoft trying to offer more solutions natively in Windows 10, it just makes sense for the Task Manager to evolve in this regard.
Windows 10 19H1 is projected to be finalized in the spring, so Microsoft doesn’t have much time to begin testing such major new features. So the hope is that the next OS feature update due in the fall of 2019 would include further Task Manager improvements.
If you’d like to see Task Manager evolving too, make sure you submit your suggestions in the Feedback Hub.