Windows 11 22H2 doesn't have any new features that are really groundbreaking, although it does contain at least some quality improvements in some aspects. However, the new version brings a new Task Manager with WinUI, Fluent Design, Mica and other improvements.
The new Task Manager is not a complete overhaul of existing applications. The homepage has been redesigned, and the Tabs sections, such as Processes, Performance, Network which used to be at the top of the app, have been moved to the side. The reason for this change in appearance is because Microsoft wants to make the Task Manager more friendly for tablet devices, and more modern.
The new Task Manager window now uses Mica material. Mica is a new material design that aims to align the background color of an application window or title bar with the desktop background to produce an attractive color hierarchy.
The Mica material used in the Task Manager is not a transparent effect. In other words, if you have the Task Manager open on top of another application like Paint, Windows 11 will still apply the desktop background color theme to the Task Manager title bar.
It is claimed that applying this effect will not reduce performance, according to Microsoft. The company is trying to make sure that performance is still the top priority of the Task Manager changes in Windows 11 and they want to make sure that all this new functionality works with the desired performance.
In addition to the new tab layouts and designs, Microsoft has also moved common actions like creating a new task, stopping a task, and more to the top. This general action will change when you switch between tabs in Task Manager.
Overall, the design may look similar to the current version, but the background now supports dark mode, and there are rounded corners in some areas. This is another step towards bringing Task Manager into more alignment with Microsoft's vision of delivering a modern and more consistent interface.
Performance Friendly
A major update to Task Manager is the Efficiency mode, which is a new way to ensure users have complete control over multiple processes.
With this Efficiency mode, you can reduce CPU usage by minimizing the use of system resources per process. This leads to faster responsiveness and better power savings.
This mode takes advantage of EcoQos and limits the use of process resources by reducing process priority. When the priority of a particular process is reduced, the applications that depend on that process will not simply terminate. Instead, it will stay in the background and allow other important apps or processes to run efficiently on the CPU.