Windows 10 Will Finally Kill Off SvcHost

Whenever a Windows OS users opens up Task Manger, one of the processes they will spot for sure is the cryptically named SvcHost. The feature was originally added back in the infancy of Windows NT as a way to group various services together. This allowed for a lower burden on processors cycles and RAM, critical in an era when both were limited. Starting with Windows 10 Build 14942  though, SvcHost may be no more.

With the new Windows 10 Insider build, Microsoft has decided to eliminate the use of SvcHost for systems with over 3.5GB of RAM. Due to the massive amount of RAM systems have these days, the minor savings gained from grouping services together isn’t really necessary. The only downside will be systems that have just over the limit at say 4GB or 6GB of RAM might their memory usage jump up a bit. It will be interesting to see how much extra memory splitting everything up will cost.

Now that SvcHost is dead, the big gain is user transparency. While it was possible to decipher what a specific SvcHost would do, it isn’t an easy task for the uninitiated. Hopefully, this will mean users will be able to troubleshoot their system better and find out whats eating up all their resources. A side benefit is that malware won’t be able to hide in SvcHost as well though they’ll likely find a new way. There is no word yet when the build will be pushed to the general population but it’ll hopefully happen soon.