Windows 11 to get better Multitasking, Performance, Faster search with Sun Valley 2

Microsoft is focusing to make Windows 11 user experience faster with its new update. Not only overall performance including search performance may get a boost the multitasking experience may see big improvements too.

Performance:

Windows 11 performance may see many improvements including optimizations for Windowed games that improve latency and unlocks other gaming features including Auto HDR and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). New Task manager feature Efficiency mode is helpful in controlling apps consuming high resources. Dynamic refresh rate experience has been enhanced so that when you move the cursor, the system will now boost to maximum refresh rate making your PC feel more responsive.

• This build introduces a feature called Optimizations for windowed games and is designed to significantly improve latency and unlock other exciting gaming features including Auto HDR and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). Latency improvements can benefit all gamers – from improving your input lag to creating a competitive edge in your gaming experience. Go to System > Display > Graphics > Change default graphics settings to enable the feature. Note that this feature may be already on by default and is also required to use other graphics features such as Auto HDR. To learn more, check out https://aka.ms/WindowedGameOptimizations.

• Task Manager Redesign & Efficiency Mode

  We have updated the design of Task Manager to match the new Windows 11 design principles. This includes a new hamburger style navigation bar and a new settings page. A new command bar on each page gives access to common actions. We are also excited to bring dark theme to Task manager and will automatically match the system-wide theme configured in the Settings app.

  

  Last April, we experimented with a new feature called “Eco mode” in Task Manager and we’re bringing this back with a new brand name: Efficiency mode. This feature is helpful when you notice an app consuming high resources and would like to limit its consumption so that the system gives priority to other apps which will lead to faster foreground responsiveness and better energy efficiency.

  

  You can apply Efficiency mode either by clicking on the command bar in the Processes page or right click on the process. You can only apply Efficiency mode to single process and not to the entire group process.  If the option is grey out, it generally means that it’s a core Windows process and throttling it might affect the performance of the system. The Efficiency mode process will be marked with a new leaf icon, and we are also introducing new pause icon for Suspended process to indicate the process is in suspended mode.

• It is now easier to move your cursor and windows between monitors, by letting your cursor jump over areas where it would previously get stuck. This behavior is controlled in settings with System > Display > Multiple displays > Ease cursor movement between displays.
• We’re expanding Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) experiences on laptops with 120Hz displays beyond smooth scrolling in Office and low latency inking. When you move the cursor, the system will now boost to 120Hz, making your PC feel more responsive. Touch and pen interactions blend into smooth animations in Windows UI and apps UI. Smooth scrolling is now supported not only in Office, but also in Microsoft Edge Canary and Windows UI such as the Settings app. To enable smooth scrolling on Edge Canary you need to enter the following in the address bar of a new tab: “edge://flags/#edge-refresh-rate-boost-on-scroll”, set the highlighted flag to ‘Enabled’ and then restart Edge.

Search:

Windows 11 overall search experience will see improvements. It will make searching for apps and settings in the Windows search box faster. Searching in settings will also become better with better results.

• Searching for apps and settings in the Windows search box on the taskbar is now even faster and more accurate than before. Try searching for your favorite app or a setting you use frequently to see faster results. We’ve also fixed an issue that prevented Windows users from being able to search for an app in the first few seconds after it had been installed.
• We’ve done some work to generally improve results when searching in Settings, including more relevant results and now have some flexibility for returning results in the case when the search terms have common typos.

Multitasking:

Multitasking experience on Windows 11 may also see a big jump with improved Snap Layouts. The new Snap Layout experience makes multitasking better on both touch and mouse devices. The snapping animations have been update to make the transitions appear more fluid.

• Improving Snap Layouts

  We’ve added a new way to snap windows into snap layouts that works wonderfully with both touch and mouse! To try it out, just drag a window to the top of the screen to reveal the snap layouts, drop the window on top of a zone to snap it, and use snap assist to finish building your layout.

  

  On top of all that, we’ve also improved snap assist to seamlessly animate between zones in a layout for a delightful end-to-end snapping experience.

• We’ve made some small changes to the snapping options under System > Multitasking to help simplify them and make them easier to understand.
• We have updated the snap group visuals to include the desktop wallpaper to make it easier to differentiate your groups from normal windows. This will appear when using ALT + TAB, Task View, and in the taskbar previews. Additionally, ALT + TAB will now show as windowed for all Insiders running Build 22554 and up.

• We are updating the transition animation that shows going from one snapped window state to another. Snap some windows using the snap assist, move windows from one configuration to another and observe the fluidity of the transition with our new animations.

• Rotating your device between portrait and landscape orientation is snappier, more responsive.

Sun Valley 2 update aka version 22H2 update is the annual major update for Windows 11 in 2022. The update is supposed to bring many new features and UI changes with itself.

The Windows 11 update destined to come out this year will be the version 22H2. As per a new report this update will bring much-desired and currently missing Taskbar features back. It may also bring system-wide Dark mode and many other new features and UI changes.

The Windows 11 version 22H2 update is termed Sun Valley 2 update internally. It may follow the Windows 11 21H2 release date schedule. Read more about Windows 11 version 22H2 new features and release date by clicking here.