03.Secret History of Windows Task Manager - Part 3 - Source Code

The Source Code to Windows Task Manager is featured in Part 3 of the series. Featuring the actual source code to the Windows Task Manager, retired Microsoft engineer Davepl walks us through the code and explains how important sections function.

From WinMain to drawing the graph paper backgrounds you'll see Task Manager in a way you've never seen it before!

I get a lot of questions about which keyboard I'm using as well as various other camera and studio equipment questions, so here are the highlights:

CORSAIR K70 RGB MK.2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Cherry MX Blue Switches)

Sony FX3 or A7SIII Cameras

Aputure 120D Mark II Light and Light Dome II Mini

Glide Gear TMP100 Prompter

[joshcantype]

I'm no C++ expert but this was really interesting and you explained it well, good video

[sokrates]

This is like a mini history documentary for programmers, I love it :D

[Thyhack.]

It's really an honor just to be able to send you a message. As an ex-windows user Task Manager is one of the best features of Windows as It is reliable and easy to use. I appreciate the overview as it was very insightful.

[StarsManny]

I remember reading a book about programming about 20 years ago. The author was a programmer himself but he was in awe of system programmers. He jokingly considered that the team who wrote the task manager to be "a team of savant geniuses". At that time I kind of agreed with him. After 20 years of programming though I found you explanation to be very understandable! Never would have thought it was written by one person. This is a very enjoyable series, thanks!

[fiddley]

As a system admin, my whole career has been 80% built around knowing how to use and interpret Task Manager! It's such a powerful tool, it's not often I have to go digging deeper to fix a problem. Thank you!

[Kaiju]

You are a freaking rockstar! I’ve definitely used task manager more than any other Microsoft application.

[leonkernan]

It has protections against opening windows offscreen. I wish someone from the Excel team had seen that.

[Darklud_Productions]

During COVID I was so stressed I stopped working on my C++ and Unreal Engine projects.... You rekindled the intrigue for me!

[GabrielM]

"When you hold down the refresh key (F5)"

*Me playing with taskmgr for 5 minutes*

[hundvd_]

When the first thing you see in a code base is
// And now the magic begins.
and
// This is all ridiculous.
You know it's a good program

[ApacheGamingUK]

I love that even at Enterprise level, programmers are allowed to inject some of their own personality into their code. :D Loved the comments, and the method names. I remember making a C++ injectible dll, and ended up making Thank goodness for intellisense, haha.

[alienspace]

As a recent computer networking technology certificate graduate, I enjoy watching your videos, and learning more about different areas of computing.

[jeffgreenca]

Fantastic, a niche combo of entertainment, nostalgia for those of us that grew up with Windows, and professional insight.

[sinzies]

Just watched all three videos of the Secret History of Windows Task Manager twice and you have a new subscriber. Thanks for this wonderful look at the software I've known and used since it first came out.

I must add that I find it endearing that you're using Visual Studio Code on Mac, even though I prefer to do most of my work on Windows and I'm not a fan of either VS Code or Mac. Keep on coding!

[orkblutt]

Ctrl+Shift+Esc is probly the most keys combination I used in my entire life. You're my Hero ! :D
I have the exact same explanation to young programmer guys when they seen my old code with some "evil" goto :)
It's also remember me the time I was reading the win2k leaked sources and some old tool I wrote, "DeepMonitor", to detect some rootkits in the 2000/2005 years...
Very nice video ! Thanks for sharing this nice exeperience !

[charlesshorrock]

I'm not sure I can adequately communicate just how many levels of enjoyment I get from your videos. It's different things on different days from the same video. I was already happy to find a place where I can daydream about MS-DOS, BASIC and days when I still had all my hair. So finding out you're Canadian and a nod to The Friendly Giant was almost as good as the days when your older brother/cousin/uncle let you tag along to Tim's where you got a seat at the counter AND your own bowtie! Thanks for sharing these tales.

[anisimow]

Dave drops the key shortcuts for the taskmgr.exe like the cheats keys in old school games

[Davemte]

As others have said not a C++ coder, but I am an avid Task Manager user. First program I open on a customer's computer when troubleshooting. This video has given me a deeper insight into it's function, thank you very much.

[phiz]

You are a great story teller. Love the content. I was a previous developer myself starting 20 years ago and it brings back memories. :-)

[tylerblakeman]

I don't know if YouTube keeps stats on this type of thing, but I've watched this video 4+ times, and it's informative every time. So glad you've made this content available.