This Is How Windows 8 Task Manager Looks!

It feels only natural that Microsoft continues updating core Windows modules and programs which they have started under Windows 7. Design simplicity is the key for Windows 8, and Microsoft recently discussed on its blog yet another popular Windows feature getting streamlined in Windows 8: the task manager.

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Microsoft says three goals guided development of the new task manager, which is intended to appeal to non-techies and power users alike. It is safe to say that additional modules and features will be updated. One of the latest that we know of is the Windows Task Manager which will get a complete overhaul.

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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.

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.

The first screen shows the dashboard of the Advanced Task Manager. It displays the cpu, memory, network and disk load in graphs. Tabs are available that lead to the process and service listing. 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.

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.

The second screenshot shows the Modern Windows Task Manager which lists the programs, startup items and users.

It is not clear why we see two different task managers at the moment. It could be that Microsoft is experimenting with different versions of the task manager at this point in time.

The different program classifications will make it easier to distinguish core system processes from background programs and applications that have been started by the user

The more CPU or memory an app uses, for example, the darker its statistics appear in the detail view. The interface appears touch friendly as well, with little test and big icons. Some users have mentioned that this could be indeed the task manager for Windows 8‘s touch edition, while the other could be the replacement for the standard task manager.