First they came for Notepad. Now they're coming for Task Manager (latest Windows 11 Insider build 22538 emerges)

The Register ^ | Jan 20, 2022 | Richard Speed

[dayglored]

[Dayglored note: This is about an "Insider" build, not the version most users get. The "Insider" releases are for developers and eager-beaver Windows fanbois who want to try things before they're done, knowing they might break.]

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Is nothing safe from the dead hand of the Windows 11 design aesthetic?

Windows' murderous Task Manager looks set to get a makeover in Windows 11 after a work-in-progress turned up in the latest Insider Dev Channel build.

Remembering the good times

The build, 22538, is an otherwise relatively mundane emission from the Windows team.

Sure, there was great excitement among the community when the volume control that harked back to the days of Windows 8 was ditched in favour of something a bit more in keeping with the world of Windows 11 (you can now change the volume using your mouse or touchpad). But Task Manager has so far retained its last redesign, and still looks like a throwback to Windows of yesteryear.

That's assuming users can actually find it. Infamously, Microsoft removed the familiar right-click-on-the-taskbar approach of old for Windows 11 and adopted a slightly odd right-click-on-the-start-button method instead.

The original Task Manager was a utility developed by former Microsoft programmer Dave Plummer and first turned up in Windows NT 4. "Task Manager is," said Plummer, "quite frankly, a natural born killer."

Or at least it was, until the poor thing was defanged as Windows evolved. Its inability to be quite as murderous these days as Plummer had originally intended has led to gnashing of teeth by administrators and a "You were supposed to kill the Not Responding Tasks, not join them" meme.

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[ProfessorGoldiloxx]

I have a windoze machine (internet turned off), used for 2 things I can’t do otherwise, and the rest are all Linux. Switched 5 years ago. No regrets.

[Openurmind]

Wipe and put Mint Cinnamon on the bricked machines. They are starving and waiting for it.

[Openurmind]

Yep, been using it for over 5 years now. And it feels and acts like Win 7. Easy to use right away for a win 7 user.

I wiped ALL mine and installed Mint.

[Openurmind]

“cough Linux cough.”

Good cough... :)

[ProfessorGoldiloxx]

LOVE Linux Mint ‘Cinnamon’ edition. Tried many, stopped looking when I found that. Feels like Windows XP and Windows 7 had a kid (I use the original appearance, not the new default).

[SkyDancer]

Wouldn’t a simple format do the same thing?

[chief lee runamok]

Version 11 that came loaded on my laptop did not eliminate
Notepad, just made it hard to find.

I had to use search to locate but I frequently use notepad
to save receipts for online purchases

[MayflowerMadam]

Can buy new Windows 7 and XP (they build them for you) at Nixsys. Am thinking of ordering a desktop in case my Win 7 laptop goes belly-up.

[Openurmind]

What is cool about the Cinnamon is that it is based on Gnome. So they have all kinds of themes, widgets, and "Desklets" available for it. Cinnamon has it's own repository aside from the default Ubuntu repository. It even has a theme that emulates Win XP if you want. And all these can be had through your native box settings manager that comes boxed with Mint. :) https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/

[sjm_888]

Use NotePad++ (NotePad Plus-Plus) by Don Ho. Awesome Notepad program. Search for Notepad++ Download.

[algore]

the ‘clean all’ will write zero to every sector/memory cell on your device.

if you had the resources of a 3 letter agency you could still recover the data if you really had some desire, but other than that nope.

p.s. if you have a failed drive (not wiped)
(there are large data recovery operations in china, if you claim warranty on your failed device and send them your old one you bet they may recover your data for their own use)

many large companies have contracts which replace failed drives, but require shredding of the failed ones.

[SkyDancer]

Okay - I heard about programs that write all 1’s then 0’s to every sector.

[SkyDancer]

PS: What about strong magnets?

[Openurmind]

Or you could get Mint Cinnamon for free and find out it is almost the same as Win 7. And then be completely unhooked from the MS ball and chain.

Wish those who I have helped would chime in and give me a bit of back up here. A few have now expired like my good friend Wind Flier, But I walked many here through getting set up with great results and reviews.

I have and will always be available for those who want to make a serious change and severe that MS ball and chain... :)

[Wilderness Conservative]

Ive been Windows free with Linux for 2 years now. Havent looked back since.

[Openurmind]

It is one of the default options in Linux when you format a drive with the boxed app. It takes a long time to do this, so you will want to start it and go to bed or work. But... It is this way with ALL programs that deeply overwrite with zeros and ones.

[Openurmind]

I wonder why it is so hard for folks to get the concept that the Linux guys are ON THEIR SIDE and trying to help them and make their lives easier?

Why they fight this concept I have no clue...

[ProfessorGoldiloxx]

Yes, it’s not ‘the covid’.

[AppyPappy]

And calculator. And Paint.

[Openurmind]

Lol, Yep... What a different world of reality. Hard to believe, but you CAN live without MS. And live very well without it.