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TopWinPrio gives a priority boost to your focused application window
TopWinPrio's function is mashed right into its name. Once you launch the app, it hides in your system tray and automatically bumps the process priority of your foreground window. If you're focused on an app and working in it, it might as well have dibs on available CPU time, right?
Head to the options window, and you can set TopWinPrio to run at startup, boost Explorer processes, and change the update interval. You can also switch the default process priority from AboveNormal to High or Realtime (danger, Will Robinson!) Your mileage will may vary, of course, though I've found TopWinPrio to provide a nice shot in the arm for my Atom 270 netbook.
On my desktop and full-size laptop, however, I don't see myself switching from Process Lasso. It's much more configurable and offers a slew of additional features.
Head to the options window, and you can set TopWinPrio to run at startup, boost Explorer processes, and change the update interval. You can also switch the default process priority from AboveNormal to High or Realtime (danger, Will Robinson!) Your mileage will may vary, of course, though I've found TopWinPrio to provide a nice shot in the arm for my Atom 270 netbook.
On my desktop and full-size laptop, however, I don't see myself switching from Process Lasso. It's much more configurable and offers a slew of additional features.
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsnavaraNov 22nd 2010 11:16AM
The sad thing is that the windows scheduler already boosts the foreground interactive process, even though it is done through other means. If it didn't then the whole UI would feel much more sluggish.
navaraNov 22nd 2010 11:19AM
More information for those, who wish to read it:
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~anhcuong/cs2106/NT_quantum.html - "Windows NT Workstation's quanta are variable and shorter. A quantum might be temporarily increased for the threads in the foreground application. In order to improve the responsiveness of foreground threads, the quantum of the foreground thread can be 2 or 3 times more than that one of the background thread. This arrangement works well for systems where there are several applications running simultaneously, and the applications are interactive in nature."
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/96418 - "By default, the foreground application has a base process priority that is one point higher than the background application. This allows the foreground process to be even more responsive. This can be changed by bringing up the System applet, selecting the Tasking button, and choosing a different option."
MxxConNov 22nd 2010 1:18PM
more "snake oil" software that "supposedly" improves windows performance where in reality it can actually hurt it. :/
VVNov 22nd 2010 1:56PM
How nice to see that software authors are taking full advantage of the latest Windows features to come out with decent user interfaces!
Note to author of software: Vista/W7 use the Segoe UI font for its UI elements. 2003, XP and 2000 use Tahoma. If we were still using Windows 95, then your use of Microsoft Sans Serif would be correct.
Richard FrischNov 23rd 2010 11:47AM
Test of switched.com domain log on.
Richard FrischNov 23rd 2010 11:49AM
This move to AOL's switch is a hassle. I don't like the new domain. I don't like the now broken commenting. What was good; what was easy is now not.
Thomas HoustonNov 23rd 2010 12:35PM
@RickyF should have commenting bugs worked out soon.
jeremy.collakeNov 25th 2010 1:20PM
Foreground boosting is unnecessary and potentially harmful, which is why it is disabled by default in Process Lasso, and why Process Lasso's ProBalance algorithm does just the opposite (temporarily lowers background process priorities when necessary). See our graphical CPU eater. While it is running at Normal priority, does your boosted foreground app stay responsive? Nope. Not even if it was Real-time priority class. However, if the CPU Eater is temporarily lowered in priority (as Process Lasso's ProBalance does), then responsiveness to the entire system is restored.
I wrote about this here: http://processpriority.com/docs/pl/how_does_lasso_work.htm