MS Task Manager turns 30: Creator reveals how a 'very Unixy impulse' endured in Windows

As Microsoft's Task Manager celebrates three decades - and grapples with its modern tendency to leave orphaned processes behind - its creator has shared the story of how the much loved troubleshooting tool came to be.

If the user needs a chisel, don't give them a Nerf bat

Dave Plummer, a former Microsoft engineer, says his lean original has grown roughly 50 times in size. Rather than critique today's version, Plummer took to his Dave's Garage YouTube channel to offer a window into Task Manager's scrappy origins, including the thought process behind its development, and his unfortunate decision to include his home phone number in the source code.

"The birthday is stamped into the code itself: November 10, 1995," Plummer said.

Task Manager emerged from what Plummer called "a very Unixy impulse" - he wanted to see what was running on his system. Windows NT had the architecture ...