The Windows Task Manager is one of the essential tools of the operating system. Thanks to it, we can control everything that is running on our system, open and close processes, control programs at startup and know the status of the hardware. In the latest versions of Windows 10 , Microsoft has introduced some additional functions and features, such as the ability to know the status of the GPU without the need to use other programs to do so. However, there are still many things Microsoft could add to the program to make it really useful.
The task manager is available for all users of the operating system, even for the Home edition, and we can launch it with the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + Escape . The different tabs that appear in the upper part of the window allow us to move through the different categories that this program offers us. However, despite everything it offers us, how could we improve it?
All the features that we are going to see below are present in the different alternatives to Task Manager, so there would be no technical impediments to bringing them to Windows 10.
Control hardware temperature from Task Manager
In the “Performance” tab we can control the use of CPU, RAM, GPU, hard drives and network cards of the computer. The information that this task manager offers us is quite complete, and we can also understand it quickly thanks to its graphs, updated every second. However, there is something that does not tell us: the temperature.
Controlling the temperature of the PC is important to help us detect possible problems in the system. Especially the temperature of the CPU and GPU. However, Windows does not allow it, and forces us to look for third-party programs that allow us to obtain this data.
VirusTotal in all processes
Process Explorer, an alternative to the task manager that is also from Microsoft, allows us to check the security of all processes by sending their hash to VirusTotal. In a second we can see if all the processes on the PC are safe, or if any of them are suspicious or dangerous. Undoubtedly, a very fast way to make sure that everything we have open is really safe, and malware could not be sneaked in due to an antivirus failure.
Either in the processes tab, or in the details tab, Microsoft could perfectly add the VirusTotal API so that users can know the reliability of their processes without depending on other programs.
More control over what runs at startup
The “Start” tab allows us to control the programs that run at the beginning of the operating system. We can see the status of each one, and the impact they have on Windows startup time. The Task Manager allows us to activate or deactivate the programs, but nothing else.
Microsoft should add to this section the possibility of also being able to see the services (not only the programs) that are opened at startup. And also give users the ability to delay the startup of some to avoid bottlenecks. Unfortunately, it cannot be done. We have to resort to specific programs for this purpose, such as Autorun Organizer.
Widgets or gadgets on the desktop
Who doesn’t like being able to always have RAM, CPU and hard disk usage in view? Until Windows 7 we had the ability to use desktop gadgets to control hardware. However, Microsoft ended support for this feature, so today, we either turn to third-party alternatives for it, which are quite complicated to configure (such as Rainmeter), or nothing.
The Task Manager allows us to see the status of the PC’s hardware, updated in real time. Why not add some gadgets to be able to control it from the desktop?
Better process organization
From the first moment we turn on the PC, we already have dozens of processes open. And there are programs that work with two, or more, processes. To facilitate its reading, this tool groups them in such a way that all the processes of a program are within a general process. However, this does not quite work out well.
Microsoft should ensure that all the processes of the same application are well organized within the same category. This will allow us to see all those that belong to the same program much more easily, and even end them all with a couple of clicks.
