Microsoft seems to be preparing for two new features in Windows 11 Task Manager: Microsoft Edge integration and Eco mode.
Microsoft Edge integration is already available on devices running Windows 11 Build 22000.282, while Eco Mode is expected to arrive later this year or early next year.
To ensure that your browser does not reduce the performance of your machine, the new Task Manager Windows 11 better manages the resources used by the Edge browser. As you already know, managing browsers by Task Manager can be very frustrating and it looks like Microsoft wants to improve the experience.
Microsoft Edge 94 comes with several Windows 11 Task Manager enhancements to better represent your browser processes. In Windows 10, when you open Task Manager looking for Microsoft Edge processes, you will see a list of processes that use the generic name "Microsoft Edge".
This makes it impossible to close tabs or extensions using Task Manager. With the new update, Task Manager displays a detailed view of browser processes.
This can be done because of the Microsoft Edge multi-process architecture:
- The browser now has GPU and crashpad processes in Task Manager.
- For extensions and add-ons, Task Manager displays the process type and extension name.
- The tabs now include the site, the icon and the name. For InPrivate tabs, the site name and icon will be replaced with a generic icon that reflects the private browsing session. For subframes such as ads, you will see the "subframe" and subframe URL in Task Manager.
- The Task Manager can now list workers and service workers.
For some services, such as the Microsoft Office web, one component shared the same process as the other components. You can now click the arrow to extend the process and see the other Microsoft Office components included.
Microsoft is currently testing this new Task Manager feature and will start releasing it to more Windows 11 users in the coming weeks.
Microsoft is also preparing the new Eco feature for Task Manager. With this feature, you will be able to do something for applications that require a lot of system resources.
If you enable Eco for an application, Microsoft will reduce the process priority to "low", allowing other applications to have a higher priority on system resources.
This feature is expected to be released in late 2021 or early next year.