Long before the release of the Sun Valley 2 patch for Windows 11, the company hinted at a change in the desktop OS interface. It will affect one of the oldest components of the system, familiar to almost any user.

In the Windows Insider podcast, the softmaker talked about preparing a redesign of the task manager with support for the system accent color. In addition, the published screenshots show a new sidebar that is missing in the current version of the utility. It contains the tabs “Processes”, “Performance”, “History of programs”, “Startup”, “Users”, “Details”, “Services”, as well as a new option “Settings”).

According to network sources, the modified design of the task manager will be compatible with both the dark and light interfaces of Windows 11. The launch of beta testing of the innovation is expected in the coming days, and it will probably become publicly available after the release of the 22H2 update this fall.

Microsoft is also rumored to be working on expanding the laptop battery health check feature – a suitable tool may appear in the task manager at a later date. The company has not yet announced the official release dates for updates and the list of features that will appear in the next patches.