The site offers service listing for all recent Windows operating system. Charles M. Sparks, the guy behind the Black Viper site, has recently posted an update listing all preliminary Windows 8 services. You find all current Windows 8 services in the list, their service name, the default Windows 8 Ultimate configuration setting and the recommended “safe” setting.

Why only Ultimate? Because Microsoft so far has only released that version in form of the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Users may be able to test other Windows 8 editions when the beta or release candidates come out.

Each service is linked to a Wiki entry on Black Viper’s website where additional information are provided. Here you find a service description, default path and command line options, account it is executed on and additional information.

All Windows 8 service information are preliminary in nature. Still, users who are currently running the Windows 8 Developer Preview release can use the information presented on the site to tweak their Windows 8 operating system.

If you have been using Black Viper’s site previously you may remember that the services listing included not only a Safe listing but also a Tweak and Barebones listing. Safe settings are not aggressive and should not cause troubles for the majority of users. It is the best setting to start with and it is likely that Charles will add tweak and barebones listings at a later time. For now, Safe and Default is all you can get.

It is nevertheless reassuring that Black Viper has already started to work on the Windows 8 Services listing on his site. You can check out the listing here. (via Mike)

This internal services manager is limited in many regards. It is for instance extremely cumbersome to list a services dependencies. A service can depend on other services, which means that it can only be started if the services it depends on are started as well.

Turbo Services Manager is a free third party software that improves the manageability of services under Windows. I did review the program back in 2008, and felt that it is time for a new and updated review.

One of the core differences to the default Windows Services dialog is the display of dependencies right in the main interface.

Even better: Controls are available to select all services a service depends on, or services that depend on the service for efficient management.

Another improvement is the ability to save the state of all services. This makes it possible to work with different services configurations on the same operating system. Handy if you want those networking features during the work day but not after work when you use the computer for private things.

Service configurations are saved in XML files. The services manager can load them right away, or use a test load which displays the changes that will be applied if the configuration is loaded.

Controls are also available in the icon bar to change a services state and startup. Even better, changing states and startup preferences can be done via keyboard shortcuts to speed up the process further.

The program offers additional features, like the ability to display Kernel services. The developer has updated the program recently to support the new Windows 7 operating system.

Turbo Services Manager is a handy program that is more effective than the default Windows Services management program. The program could use additional features, for instance integration of BlackViper’s services recommendations for the operating system (like the Windows Services Optimizer SMART).

Windows users can download the Turbo Services Manager from the developer website. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

WinServices is a free software program for the Windows operating system that provides better options to manage Windows services. The software displays a list of services with their description and state upon startup. This view mode can be altered by clicking on the icon in the program’s status bar or from the view menu.

The additional view modes are by service type, load order and dependencies which can provide better information in certain situations.

Another interesting option of WinServices is the ability to edit service information including names or descriptions. Improper use of this feature can lead to problems. The ability to create services snapshots can be beneficial in this regard to restore a services configuration at anytime in the future.

The Windows services are stored in the rpt format which can be imported at a later time. This could be interesting for people who maintain multiple computer systems to configure the services on one system, export that configuration and import it in the other systems to work with the same configuration on all systems.

WinServices will notify the user when services are modified while it is running.

This feature compares services every minute by default and uses basic comparison parameters to do so. The interval of the checks and the depth can be configured in the program’s options.

The extensive options contain additional options that include notifications when services change on the system and custom actions for specific services like keeping a service always running or stopped.

WinServices uses roughly 20 Megabytes of computer memory while running in the background. It is an ideal tool for users who want better control over their Windows services. Especially the option to backup and restore a services configuration and the ability to monitor services can be really helpful in some usage scenarios.

The software program can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with Windows NT based operating systems including Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

That is where Turbo Service Manager comes into play. The software program feels like a portable advanced version of services.msc. Like its official counterpart Turbo Service Manager displays all Windows services in its main window. The name, description, state and startup type are listed plus the dependencies which is the first major difference to the Microsoft tool.

Dependencies are other services that either depend on the selected service or services that are required to run before the selected service can be started. Father and child processes so to speak. It is possible to sort all services by every listed parameter.

Working with Turbo Services Manager is easier because it provides keyboard shortcuts for most possible actions. It is possible to start, stop, resume, uninstall and pause services with keyboard shortcuts. The same is true for changing the startup type of a service. One interesting feature is the option to select multiple services at once and apply an action to all of them at once. Something that is not possible when working with services.msc.

Turbo Service Manager can select all services that depend on or are required for the selected service to run. More interesting than that option is the ability to save and load a Windows services configuration. Test Load displays the changes that would have been made to the services configuration if the configuration would have been loaded.

TSM is a small portable application that runs fine on 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista

Update: I have published a new review of the program in 2011. You find the updated review by following this link: Turbo Service Manager, Manage Windows Services More Effectively