that is like the single most important process for "normal" (read: the people who "log in" to their computers like everyone else with a GUI and not remotely through SSH or a CLI)
DO NOT "KILL" it... it will log you out....
what does it do? not a clue... but whenever it crashes you are forced to "log out" and all your open applications will be quit without any warning... it will be like you restarted your computer (if you have auto-login on)...
what does it do? not a clue... but whenever it crashes you are forced to "log out" and all your open applications will be quit without any warning... it will be like you restarted your computer (if you have auto-login on)...
WindowServer does exactly what it sounds like it does. It's the "server" to all the "windows" for the GUI. It is, in a sense, the GUI itself and the parent to all of your GUI-driven applications. That's why when you crash/kill it, you are logged out. Your applications can not run without it.
window server: A system-wide process that is responsible for rudimentary screen displays, window compositing and management, event routing, and cursor management. It coordinates low-level windowing behavior and enforces a fundamental uniformity in what appears on the screen.
Comments
that is like the single most important process for "normal" (read: the people who "log in" to their computers like everyone else with a GUI and not remotely through SSH or a CLI)
DO NOT "KILL" it... it will log you out....
what does it do? not a clue... but whenever it crashes you are forced to "log out" and all your open applications will be quit without any warning... it will be like you restarted your computer (if you have auto-login on)...
don't play with it, just get more ram
Originally posted by Paul
what does it do? not a clue... but whenever it crashes you are forced to "log out" and all your open applications will be quit without any warning... it will be like you restarted your computer (if you have auto-login on)...
WindowServer does exactly what it sounds like it does. It's the "server" to all the "windows" for the GUI. It is, in a sense, the GUI itself and the parent to all of your GUI-driven applications. That's why when you crash/kill it, you are logged out. Your applications can not run without it.
From Apple:
window server: A system-wide process that is responsible for rudimentary screen displays, window compositing and management, event routing, and cursor management. It coordinates low-level windowing behavior and enforces a fundamental uniformity in what appears on the screen.