We reported on a bizarre Windows 11 bug late last month that allowed Task Manager to survive the closing process, leading to multiple stacked instances that could eventually eat into your PCs performance. It might have taken the crown for the weirdest Windows quirk we’ve seen all year, but now we’ve had our fun, MS has squashed it—and I’m genuinely sad to see it go.
According to the update page: “This update addresses an issue where closing Task Manager with the Close button didn’t fully end the process, leaving background instances that could slow performance over time. This might occur after installing KB5067036.”
I was hoping for a more esoteric description, like “Stopped Task Manager’s transformation into an immortal self-replicating being, hole in universe now patched,” but there we go. It’s not the only small fix in the latest update, either, as MS has also stamped out an annoying-sounding Windows handheld issue:
“This update addresses an issue that affects gaming handheld devices. These devices were unable to stay in low-power states, which caused faster battery drain.”
I can’t say we’ve run into that particular problem on the Windows handheld gaming PCs we’ve tested to date, but it’s nice to know it’s no longer an issue. MS says it’s also fixed a delay caused by signing into Windows using a gamepad, which could cause the controller to stop responding for around five seconds. Which, as we all know in modern computing terms, is a downright agonising amount of time to wait.
Anyway, update KB5067036 looks like a selection of small fixes rather than anything revelatory, but then I like to imagine that the Task Manager replication bug took up all of the dev team’s time this month. There they were, chasing copies of it around the ceiling with brooms, before eventually beating it back behind a containment field and falling into a heap on the floor in relief.
“We got it, guys. The nightmare is finally over.” Something like that, anyway.
