Resource monitor for OS X

Question

In Windows, you can get an overview of your computers resources and activities by going into the Task Manager. It also shows which task is consuming the most CPU cycles and RAM.

Is there a similar tool built into OS X? I know top comes with OS X, but I find it all a bit too confusing. What are my available options? Do I need to resort to a 3rd party app?

score 26 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 20 '13 at 16:11

26

What you're looking for is known as Activity Monitor. You should find it in /Applications/Utilities

edited Sep 20 '13 at 16:11

mmmmmm

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answered Jul 22 '09 at 00:48

Dan Walker

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This is why SE works so well. This was the first hit on Google, and it's exactly what I needed. – eckza Apr 14 '11 at 13:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 20 '13 at 15:43

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If you want the same information as a Dashboard widget or in the menu bar, check out iStat Pro/Nano and iStat Menus. You can get more info at the author's website, http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

edited Sep 20 '13 at 15:43

Jamie Taylor

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answered Jul 22 '09 at 03:24

Andrew Scagnelli

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But be aware that some of these resource monitoring widgets can consume a large amount of system resources. – Matthew Schinckel Jul 22 '09 at 03:42
Upvoted for truth. – eckza Apr 14 '11 at 13:54

Resource monitor for OS X

2 Answers2