Thanks for your reply, Michelle.
Yes, I've tested it after restarting quite a few times.
It seems selective. For me, it's always behaved to show ALL apps currently loaded and occupying memory.
Right now I have listed Safari, Mail, but also Red Cine X-Pro, a film ingest utility. Attached is what Command-Tab looks like. I like the command because I can switch from Command-Tab to Q to quit a selected app I don't need loaded. However, as not shown, Adobe Premiere is also in memory, and in this case, most recent app loaded!
I wonder if the indispensable Keyboard Maestro could be a filtering element. Never happened under Monterey or Mojave on my 2013 Mac Pro cylinder.
Best as always,
Loren