The Developer's Apple Mac

Everybody knows that Mac OS/X is essentially Linux under the hood, but how does it stack up as a development platform? Does it make up for the scripting and package limitations of Microsoft Windows, or are all the goodies hidden away and out of reach? Furthermore, does it give the programmer/developer a comfortable and stable environment to work in?

System Resource Monitor

01 Sep 2011 | Comment

There is a rather neat system monitoring tool, Magician Monitor, which is free to download and gives a handy view on how much network, CPU and disk you're consuming - as well as temperatures of the core components. It docks handily in the bottom right of the screen, displaying a live view of your choice metric, and hovering over it shows all of the other information. If this sounds like a useful thing for you, download it from magicansoft.com.

However, it turns out that there's a built-in monitor, Activity Monitor, easily found from the Spotlight tool. It is a full-windowed app, showing process information as well as graphs of the key system data. You also have the option of turning the app's dock icon into a live graph of your choice metric. There is also an optional CPU graph that you can have planted on the desktop. The app doesn't provide temperature information, but otherwise does everything that Magician Monitor does.


Comments

It's quiet in here...Add your comment

Apple

Apple Apple Computing has been through the wars over the years, but finally found its feet at the start of the 21st century when Steve Jobs diversified the company's portfolio by hitting the home market hard - ultimately making computers and ... (more)

Keeping your iPhone secure

Apple has recently bumped up its security procedure, by asking subscribers for three questions and answers that can be used to verify their identity in case their password is lost (or stolen!). In addition to this, Apple tells us what to ... (more)

Faulty iPhone out of Warranty? Help is at Hand!

UK consumers have a powerful friend in the Sale of Goods Act, if something they buy fails unexpectedly within a fairly long period of time - up to six years, in fact. What does this mean if you have an iPhone that has stopped working ... (more)

Where has my iPhone been?

It should come as no surprise that the iPhone, master of location-sensitive applications, is recording its every move. There are privacy concerns in terms of what Apple might be doing with the collected data, but in the meantime let's have ... (more)

Find My iPhone

Apple has a really neat feature to help you find your iPhone - but you must have set it up before you lose it! The first step is to make sure that you are signed up with Mobile Me! - do this from any computer at me.com. You can just sign ... (more)

What if your iPhone is stolen?

Your iPhone (and iPad, for that matter) is vulnerable to a six-minute attack in the event that someone gets hold of your phone. The phone has built-in encryption, but the 'key chain' that Apple employs to keep passwords and data safe is breakable ... (more)

Jonathan Ive: Apple in his eye

He is an industrial enginner, British-born and promoted to Apple's vice president of industrial design by Steve Jobs in 1997. Ive and his design team forged a new path for Apple, becoming a force in consumer electronics. He won the Design Museum ... (more)

Broken Elitebook Night-light

My Elitebook is currently winging its way back to an HP service centre, simply because its night light won't retract. The night light is located at the top of the screen, next to the integrated webcam, and can be useful for illuminating the ... (more)

Warning: some iPhone cases can cause damage!

NetworkWorld reports that Apple may be looking into the claims that some iPhone protective cases can scratch or crack an iPhone's glass back panel. The cases in question are the sort that the phone slides into, as they feature a backplate ... (more)

iPhone Waterproof Case

CamerasUnderwater.co.uk has a great waterproof pouch for the iPhone or iPod Touch. Designed to keep the phone safe and dry - but still fully usable - even in the wettest conditions, the EWA-Marine pouch is a fancy plastic bag with a lanyard ... (more)

iPhone 4 warranty

Your iPhone 4 comes with an Apple warranty. For more about what this covers and how it affects you, visit the iPhone Warranty page. There is a link to a PDF for the iPhone 4 Limited Warranty. (more)

Apple Ping Announced

iTunes is getting a social twist, with the ability for its 160 million users to share and recommend media on the Apple music and video store. It is only accessible through iTunes, but promises to be a compelling way for fans, artists and producers ... (more)

Telegraph Christmas Specials

Christmas calls for wines with plenty of flavour and instant appeal and Telegraph Wine Christmas dozen ensures all tastes are catered for - plus you save more than £16. Whites: Hugely popular whites include the ripe, apple-scented ... (more)

Degradable Ajax

For degradable read backward-compatible. It has to work in many different environments, not just the resource-rich world of the developer's PC. To this end, Particle Tree has put together a tutorial on making it happen: The Hows and Whys ... (more)

Recent Updates:

19 May : Heating Oil Thefts - Stay Alert!
19 May : Pro Blaze Overshoes pass the test
15 May : Get a CentOS Server Web-Ready
13 May : Keeping your iPhone secure
06 May : Nero, Claudius and a rather dead mouse
19 May : Domestic Heating Oil Prices: Know the Market!
19 May : Sports Gear: Under Test
15 May : Rackspace Cloud Hosting
13 May : iPhone 4
06 May : Cats
19 Mar : Time Trial Results
25 Nov : Piano for the Amateur
14 Nov : Measure
02 Nov : Book Reviews
12 Oct : Simple Programming Exercises

Popular Searches: