Microsoft rolled out Windows 11 build 22538 earlier today, and if you're just looking at the company's changelog, the build doesn't have any ground-breaking new features (though there are some welcome improvements). However, lying dormant in this build is something a bit more significant. As shared by Twitter user FireCube (initially discovered by a user on the UWP Community Discord server), the new Windows 11 build comes with a new Fluent Design-inspired version of Task Manager.

In its current state, the new Task Manager isn't a complete overhaul of the existing UI. Instead, the tabs that usually sit at the top of the Task Manager window are now the side, and the shell of the window uses the new Mica translucent material. There are also prominent buttons for common actions like creating a new task, ending a task, and more. However, when you look at the lists themselves, containing the list of processes, services, and so on, they seem to look exactly the same as they do in the current iteration. However, they're in dark mode now, which is also a new feature for Task Manager. You can see the new design in action below, shared by Twitter user Xeno's Beta Stuff.

As noted by FireCube, you can enable this yourself if you're running Windows 11 build 22538, but you'll need a program called ViveTool, which allows you to enable hidden Windows features. However, this can seriously impact system stability, so you shouldn't do it unless you're comfortable working any issues that might crop up. It's a command-line tool, so after extracting the .ZIP file, you'll need to run it using Command Prompt (not Windows PowerShell). Run Command Prompt in the folder where you stored ViveTool, then enter the following commands:

  • vivetool addconfig 35908098 2
  • vivetool addconfig 37204171 2
  • vivetool addconfig 36898195 2
  • vivetool addconfig 36898195 2

Once that's done, you should be able to see the new Task Manager with Fluent Design on your PC.

There's no indication of when we might see the new Task Manager without having to enable it using hacky workarounds. Microsoft is certainly still working on polishing the experience, and it will be rolled out when it's ready. Hopefully, that means the rest of the UI will also be reworked to match the new Fluent Design instead of having these clashing design languages.