7 app background limit in Windows 8?

[efjay]

Had some updates on the RTM trial version today and had to reenable background notifications for one app and was surprised to see a message popup that I had too many already. Turns out the limit is a measly 7 apps. Does this limit seem ridiculous to anyone else? I actually do like W8 but even my Lumia 900 allows 9 apps to run in the background, how can a desktop OS be limited to just 7? Maybe this is why Intel is able to claim such long battery life times, because you can hardly run any apps on the bloody things! :/

[Jose_49]

Yes. I've been shouting this for quite some time. But the apps limits varies depending your screen resolution. In my case I get a max of 9 apps.

[max22]

That sucks. I didn't know this.

[efjay]

That makes it even more ridiculous, your screen res should have the least impact on whats running in the background, would have expected overall PC specs to determine that. I never subscribed to the idea that W8 was just a mobile OS but I'm starting to lean that way now. With the potential number of apps available having only 7 being able to run with all features enabled is pathetic.

[scaramonga]

Gotta luv Win8 lol! :rolleyes:

[Max Norris]

With the potential number of apps available having only 7 being able to run with all features enabled is pathetic.

Why would you need more than a couple Metro applications actually running full time? The number of programs that actually need to be running 100% of the time isn't that great and would work perfectly fine with scheduled updates/notifications. Media players, torrent clients, etc sure. But for the vast majority of Metro applications, not really.. 99% of the time they're waiting on you to do something anyway or run functions at scheduled times.. they wake up, do their thing and go back to sleep again.

[~Johnny]

It's only background notifications that are limited - not how many applications can actually compute in the background.

Screen resolution only effect what shows up in the task switcher - you're available RAM affects how many can stay loaded in the background.

Applications actually doing background processing generally aren't capped at any number, but they only get ~1-2 seconds computing time in the background every 15 minutes.

[neo1911]

They should have allowed only 1 app to run in background and that is Desktop.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

This is not true. Apps can run in the background without being on the lock screen. My foursquare app uses a background task to provide tile updates and toast notifications based on your location. It does not request (or even support, so far anyway) being added to the lock screen.

Lock screen apps get additional background time and more triggers. But any app can run *some* background tasks. And if you're on AC power, any app can run quite a lot on periodic tasks (called "maintenance" tasks).

Also any app can use push and polling notifications, scheduled notifications, etc.

[siah1214]

ITT lots of people know nothing about how Windows 8 works.

FYI, the resolution only limits how many apps are in the left side app switcher. When apps are pushed off the switcher, they're still open, you'll just need to hit the tile to switch back to the app.

[Sszecret Veteran]

How can your 900 have 9 apps in the background? Isn't the limit 5?

[siah1214]

How can your 900 have 9 apps in the background? Isn't the limit 5?

Not talking about phones here.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Not talking about phones here.

I think he was referring to the OP who mentioned the Lumia 900.

[mrp04]

I don't really see the problem. If you want to get real work done you should use the desktop. Why would you need to have 7 metro apps running simultaneously?

Sure the limit is stupid, but I doubt it will affect most people. Someone will probably find a way around it, too.

[efjay]

This is not true. Apps can run in the background without being on the lock screen. My foursquare app uses a background task to provide tile updates and toast notifications based on your location. It does not request (or even support, so far anyway) being added to the lock screen.

Lock screen apps get additional background time and more triggers. But any app can run *some* background tasks. And if you're on AC power, any app can run quite a lot on periodic tasks (called "maintenance" tasks).

Also any app can use push and polling notifications, scheduled notifications, etc.

Well the problem is apps that do use the lock screen and run in the background are limited to 7 and there is no way to know whether an app will require such access until you try to enable its notifications and you get the error. That is not enough and means you have to micromanage your apps which is strange for a supposed desktop operating system.

I don't really see the problem. If you want to get real work done you should use the desktop. Why would you need to have 7 metro apps running simultaneously?

Sure the limit is stupid, but I doubt it will affect most people. Someone will probably find a way around it, too.

What do you mean by "real work"? What is the point of using the OS if you don't use its features?

[f0rk_b0mb]

/Windows 8 :rolleyes:

[notchinese]

Well the problem is apps that do use the lock screen and run in the background are limited to 7 and there is no way to know whether an app will require such access until you try to enable its notifications and you get the error. That is not enough and means you have to micromanage your apps which is strange for a supposed desktop operating system.

What do you mean by "real work"? What is the point of using the OS if you don't use its features?

Because the Windows 8 DESKTOP is improved over Windows 7, not to mention you get all the under the hood performance and security improvements. How hard is that to grasp?

[Dashel]

Why would you need to have 7 metro apps running simultaneously?

Because you aren't support to close them is the mantra. (I get 10 for example at 1080)

I also dislike how I have little indication for app resource utilization in within RT.

[BajiRav]

ITT lots of people know nothing about how Windows 8 works.

FYI, the resolution only limits how many apps are in the left side app switcher. When apps are pushed off the switcher, they're still open, you'll just need to hit the tile to switch back to the app.

wow, I didn't know that. Kind of ****ed up though, couldn't they just scroll the switcher similar to iOS? :/

[scaramonga]

Because the Windows 8 DESKTOP is improved over Windows 7, not to mention you get all the under the hood performance and security improvements. How hard is that to grasp?

Definately Chinese.

[FiB3R]

Definately Chinese.

lol, he's right though.

[efjay]

Because the Windows 8 DESKTOP is improved over Windows 7, not to mention you get all the under the hood performance and security improvements. How hard is that to grasp?

You missed the point I was making, it was not a literal question.

[Beyond Godlike]

Ill stick to Windows 7 :D...Multitasking on the taskbar works fine there, and I dont want a mobile OS on my gaming laptop or gaming desktop that are capable of multitasking.

[contextfree]

People are confusing apps showing in the switcher and apps that are "open" or running in the background. These are two completely separate, unrelated things. (The Start screen is supposed to be the main way of switching apps, as well as launching them (there is not really supposed to be much of a distinction between those two things - switching = launching, more or less. conceptually, "all apps are always running all of the time"). The switcher is there just as a convenient way of going back to a recent app (or smapping it), using it as your main way of switching doesn't really work because you have to scan the ever-changing list to find the app you want, if the list gets too long it's faster to just get the app from the start screen, where it's consistently at the same place.)

I know this has already been mentioned before in this thread, but people are continuing to confuse them so I thought I'd mention it again.

[theyarecomingforyou]

People are confusing apps showing in the switcher and apps that are "open" or running in the background. These are two completely separate, unrelated things.

However, it's a relevant limitation. There isn't any practical limit to the number of applications on the Windows taskbar, yet the situation is very different when you jump into WinRT apps - it's a very low limit at that. It irritates me that Microsoft opted to implement a second taskbar just for Metro apps and to have it hidden by default, along with the aforementioned limitations. It really does seem bolted on. The biggest problem with Windows 8 is not WinRT apps themselves (although there are some very striking limitations over traditional apps) but the way WinRT apps and the desktop interact, which is - quite frankly - poor. I'm really intrigued to see what Microsoft will do with Windows 9 - or if we'll see major changes implemented in a Service Pack - because it could go either way. We could see more limitations and a move towards a closed ecosystem or we could see Microsoft respond to the criticism and provide a unified experience for both desktop and WinRT apps. Microsoft made a lot of changes to Windows 8 quite late into development (I don't recall any previous release having so many changes made post Release Candidate stage), so it's possible it was just rushed.