Whenever a column is calculating values, a Busy Spinner appears to show there's a task in progress, but you can't interact with it beyond that. If the calculation takes a long time, the only way to stop it (aside from using Task Manager, which involves more extra steps) is to close the tab and that doesn't always stop script columns (I don't know if it's the same for other user column types).
Wouldn't it be more useful to add a menu with buttons to the Busy Spinner so when clicked it, you have the option to stop the calculation for a given tab? For script columns that would mean aborting the script. No need to add new lines or extra support, make this option built-in.
Please correct me if I'm wrong and you can indeed stop/abort an ongoing task.
I just tried and it doesn't seem to be the case, and I'm talking about built-in columns.
Check current I/O, CPU, etc. usage.
Make a search in Everything or go somewhere with a lot of images (something like pic: should work.)
Enable an image-related column (e.g., Dimensions).
Check current I/O, CPU, etc. usage. You should see some increase in the metrics for Opus.
Close the column. You won't see any change in the system metrics.
Close the tab. Now you'll see the metrics return to the previous levels.
And it can be worse for script columns: depending on how they're written and what they do, the script isn't always aborted after you close the tab. The only way to stop it may be via Task Manager.
Giving the busy spinner an option to cancel or abort the current calculation would be useful, IMHO.