Windows 10 could get a new tool for identifying RAM-hogging apps

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By Darren Allan
published

App Manager is just a prototype right now, but could be really useful

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Windows 10 could be getting a new App Manager feature in its Settings tool, the idea being that this is something of a supercharged version of Task Manager, and more intelligent to boot – by actually offering recommendations to shut down programs which are hogging too much in the way of system resources.

That’s the theory, anyway, as Windows Latest reports, providing more details on the potential feature after Italian tech site Aggiornamenti Lumia (a common source of Microsoft-related leaks) initially flagged up this development last month.

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The idea with the new App Manager (which is currently being tested as a prototype) is that it provides a breakdown of all the apps running on your PC, as Task Manager does, although it also includes a full list of all the programs which are present on your system (but not running).

Furthermore, as well as giving you the ability to force an app to close (if it isn’t responding – just like you can with Task Manager), the functionality to uninstall an application will be provided. App Manager will also flag up applications which are using large amounts of memory, with ‘suggested actions’ including closing those programs.

App watchdog

Indeed, Windows Latest observes that the new system will warn about apps which are hogging too much RAM via notifications, and that will be a major boon for less tech-savvy folks who may not check tools like Task Manager.

Mainly because if they’re wondering why their machine might be running rather slowly, the notification will actively point this out, and allow these users to do something about the situation and close the offending app (which is Google Chrome, would you believe, in the sample screenshots provided by Windows Latest).

All in all, then, this would certainly be a useful development for Windows 10 in terms of user-friendliness, but as ever with features which are in testing, there’s no guarantee it will make the cut for the final version of the operating system.

Darren Allan

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).