The Task Manager in Windows 10 is about to get a lot more informative. The upcoming Windows 10 21H2 Sun Valley Cumulative Feature Update will include Microsoft Edge integration within the Task Manager.
Windows 10 OS users have often visited Task Manager to investigate what apps and services are consuming PC resources. While the platform does offer some answers, they are seldom satisfactory or explanatory. Microsoft is trying to address the same by integrating the Microsoft Edge web browser within the platform.
Windows 10 Task Manager to offer a granular view of ‘Processes’ for Microsoft Edge multi-process architecture:
Microsoft has occasionally updated Task Manager in the Windows Operating System (OS), but Microsoft Edge receives regular updates. The Chromium-based adopted a multi-process architecture to operate reliably.
In a multi-process architecture, a browser’s processes are split up and isolated for better security and reliability. Hence, if an extension crashes or a webpage/tab stops responding, other tabs and features remain unaffected and operational.
Windows 10 Task Manager is getting Microsoft Edge integrationhttps://t.co/AH7wuLij0G pic.twitter.com/as3GsZERUf
— Windows Latest (@WindowsLatest) April 26, 2021
Multi-process architecture also ensures the browser remains secure. Even if attackers manage to compromise one tab, they cannot take control of the entire device.
Possibly one of the biggest or only drawbacks of multi-process architecture is a large number of entries in the Task Manager. Windows 10 users see a lot of processes that relate to Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
There was, however, no way of knowing what these processes mean and how they impact the Windows 10 OS and PC. This will change after Windows 10 receives the feature-packed 21H2 Cumulative Feature update called Sun Valley.
Integrating Edge into Task Manager to offer a detailed view of resource consumption but only for Microsoft’s browser:
In the upcoming version of Windows 10, users can better understand where their browser resources are going. This is extremely useful while dealing with performance and stability issues.
Microsoft is offering the detailed per-process view in Task Manager for Microsoft Edge only. It is not yet clear if or when Microsoft will offer the same for all Chromium browsers, which includes Google Chrome.
Nonetheless, this a good start. Moving ahead, users will be able to see a detailed view of the browser’s running processes. As evident from the example above, Microsoft Edge’s browser processes include GPU process, Crashpad process, utility (plug-in) process, extension processes, as well as the name of the service.
Windows Task Manager gets better Edge process classifications and new Eco mode https://t.co/jeff5PaO2f pic.twitter.com/AZ2B6GtqNm
— Alain Picard Web Engineering & Cyber Security (@APicard27) April 24, 2021
The updated Task Manager will also reveal the name of the websites, tabs, and subframes. For some processes, there will be an arrow that will allow users to expand the parent process. This will reveal the other items sharing that process.
The expanded view, however, will only show the total usage for the parent process. The remaining rows will remain blank.
Microsoft Edge users could also see multiple versions of dedicated workers/service workers. Ending, terminating, or killing these processes could break the tab’s functionality or render it frozen.
Apart from the Microsoft Edge integration, Microsoft is offering a new Eco Mode within the Task Manager. Using the same, users can throttle or limit the resources available to a task.