The main benefit of Task Manger Eco Mode is to help Windows 10 perform better by running specific apps within the mode. Currently running as part of Windows 10 preview build 21364, the feature is labelled as experimental. This preview update is not for Windows 10 21H2, but probably for the 22H1 release next year. In other words, that’s when you can expect to see Eco Mode in the Task Manager. For now, the feature is only available to a small number of Insiders. Microsoft says it will reach everyone in the Dev Channel over time. Windows Task Manager is a hub that highlights all running processes across the Windows 10, showing details like disk usages, memory usage, and CPU load. Eco Mode can be used on apps that are sapping the most resources: “When Eco Mode is enabled on a process, it a) reduces process base priority to low, and b) sets QoS mode to EcoQoS. Low priority ensures that this process does not interfere with higher priority processes that the user is actively using. EcoQoS ensures the process is executed in the most power efficient manner. This could mean running the processor at a lower frequency to save power, and it helps improve the thermal footprint of the CPU.”
Performance Gains
Microsoft points out it has seen 4x improvements (76% process reduction) in UI responsiveness when using Eco Mode. However, this was a “CPU contented [busy] system”. For regular applications, such as Microsoft Word, the company points to it being 52% faster, while Microsoft Edge was 49% faster. As this is the early stage of Eco Mode, the tool is only focusing on CPU improvements. As it develops, Microsoft will add other system resources to the feature. Tip of the day: Did you know that Windows 10´s Task Manager lets you set CPU affinity to claw back some resources from running apps and give selected apps higher priority. Our tutorial shows how you can use this helpful feature.
