I have seen a widget eating about 600Mb of memory - I believe it was the weather widget pre-10.4.2. It only happened the once, and killing the widget and reloading it seemed to fix whatever had gone haywire.
Ever looked in /System? You don't need about 50% of what's in there. And that's not even getting into the scads of printer drivers in /Library. Disk space is cheap. Turn off Dashboard, and ignore it.
Exactly, an OS install involves tens of thousands of files, the vast majority of which go unused.
Dashboard consumes zero resources if never used.
With that said, Dashboard's memory usage could be greatly improved.
Ever looked in /System? You don't need about 50% of what's in there. And that's not even getting into the scads of printer drivers in /Library. Disk space is cheap. Turn off Dashboard, and ignore it.
I agree but there's a difference between unused files such as printer drivers, language packs and DashBoard. At install time, you can deselect unneeded drivers and other items. You can't do that with Dashboard. Also, unused files are just that, unused. They aren't executing using system resources. Dashboard is. This should not be, Dashboard should be an optional install.
If you had the option of turning it off, would you be happier? That puts it right into the 'not used and not running' category, just like those printer drivers.
If you had the option of turning it off, would you be happier? That puts it right into the 'not used and not running' category, just like those printer drivers.
If you had the option of turning it off, would you be happier? That puts it right into the 'not used and not running' category, just like those printer drivers.
I think that's a mite drastic, Kicka. Some widgets are useful, so as with many things in life, a bit of moderation is appropriate, ie, limit the number of them and if some get out of hand memory wise, delete or inactivate them.
I've ordered a 512 MB module, BTW, which I hope will be plenty til such time as I get a new machine.
Does anyone know what Inactive RAM is and how it is different from Free RAM?
You missed the point. You were asking for an install option, I was asking if just turning it off instead would be sufficient. FWIW, I think it *should* be able to be completely turned off... but I *was* trying to give you options. No skin off my teeth if you choose not to pursue it. I think making Dashboard alone an install option item is overkill though. What next, Spotlight? Maybe Burnable Folders?
OTOH, close all the widgets, and never activate it, and the only resources it'll be using is a bit of VM that will be swapped out on disk and a Dock icon. No real RAM, no CPU. Voila! Heck, empty out /Library/Widgets and save a few MB.
Not when he was asking for a way to completely eliminate it from his system, it's not. Besides, other folks might be interested.
Quote:
Some widgets are useful, so as with many things in life, a bit of moderation is appropriate, ie, limit the number of them and if some get out of hand memory wise, delete or inactivate them.
Well, the number of them running is only determined by how many you choose to plop down. Close them all = none running.
Monitoring memory use is an interesting idea, but how much is too much? Each widget will require its own proper allotment. The same has been tried for regular apps, and it simply ends up being more convoluted and complex that it's worth. Better to simply not run widgets known to leak, and inform the developers so they can fix them.
Quote:
I've ordered a 512 MB module, BTW, which I hope will be plenty til such time as I get a new machine.
Of course it depends on what you're doing, but 512MB is my total, and it seems more than sufficient for my needs.
Quote:
Does anyone know what Inactive RAM is and how it is different from Free RAM?
S.
Open /Applications/Utiltiies/Activity Monitor.app. Click on the System Memory tab on the bottom of the window. Hover your cursor over the Inactive and Free text at the bottom, and it'll give you explanations.
Inactive = allocated, but currently not being used.
You missed the point. You were asking for an install option, I was asking if just turning it off instead would be sufficient. FWIW, I think it *should* be able to be completely turned off... but I *was* trying to give you options. No skin off my teeth if you choose not to pursue it. I think making Dashboard alone an install option item is overkill though. What next, Spotlight? Maybe Burnable Folders?
OTOH, close all the widgets, and never activate it, and the only resources it'll be using is a bit of VM that will be swapped out on disk and a Dock icon. No real RAM, no CPU. Voila! Heck, empty out /Library/Widgets and save a few MB.
fair enough. i'm with kickaha on this. you want dashboard? load it up with all the widgets you like. personally, i have a few things going like moon phase, some weather, stocks, stickies, but this changes every few days depending on what i'm up to and what i'm interested in for those few days. you could say my widgets are 'rotated' regularly, with stickies and weather on 'regular rotation'.
don't like dashboard? zip up the Widgets in your Library or User/Library and chuck it somewhere safe. if dashboard running with absolutely NO widgets is causing you RAM and CPU problems, i think dashboard is not the issue there
it's not windoze xp, stuff in the mac os you don't like generally doesn't cause one much harm. turning off a whole bunch of crappy overused unnecessary fonts (especially those installed by ms office for mac) will speed some things up more than totally deactivating dashboard.
You mean like using the Privacy feature already built in?
To expand on what sunrailman said about this not being XP... the virtual memory system and process management in OS X mean that if a process isn't *active*, it's not using any resources, short of a bit of swap space on disk.
It's *very* efficient. If you close all Widgets (because they want to be active), then the Dashboard infrastructure doesn't have anything left to do in the background, nor Widgets to take care of. So it won't take any CPU, and the RAM use is minimal... and all on disk, not in your physical RAM.
For those ultra-paranoid that don't trust the Privacy feature
edit:
i've been severely embittered by iE 5/6 on win2000 where you click 'clear history' only to reopen the browser and finding teengirlsbeggingformore.com still there for all to see
This proves what I suspected - the ability to turn off Dashboard is already in the system, there just isn't a toggle for it. So you *can* turn it off without downloading anything, just enter the appropriate command into Terminal:
Open /Applications/Utiltiies/Activity Monitor.app. Click on the System Memory tab on the bottom of the window. Hover your cursor over the Inactive and Free text at the bottom, and it'll give you explanations.
Inactive = allocated, but currently not being used.
When the contents are physically paged to disk. Although until a paged out chunk of ram is actually re-allocated to something else it can move from the free list back to active for no HD hitting penalty if the original process asks for it again.
Comments
Originally posted by Kickaha
Ever looked in /System? You don't need about 50% of what's in there. And that's not even getting into the scads of printer drivers in /Library. Disk space is cheap. Turn off Dashboard, and ignore it.
Exactly, an OS install involves tens of thousands of files, the vast majority of which go unused.
Dashboard consumes zero resources if never used.
With that said, Dashboard's memory usage could be greatly improved.
Originally posted by Kickaha
Ever looked in /System? You don't need about 50% of what's in there. And that's not even getting into the scads of printer drivers in /Library. Disk space is cheap. Turn off Dashboard, and ignore it.
I agree but there's a difference between unused files such as printer drivers, language packs and DashBoard. At install time, you can deselect unneeded drivers and other items. You can't do that with Dashboard. Also, unused files are just that, unused. They aren't executing using system resources. Dashboard is. This should not be, Dashboard should be an optional install.
Originally posted by dfiler
[BDashboard consumes zero resources if never used.
[/B]
How is this? Everytime I start my Mac, Dashboard is automatically started. Look at the Dashboard Icon in the dock.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26899
Little util to turn Dashboard off for good.
Originally posted by Kickaha
If you had the option of turning it off, would you be happier? That puts it right into the 'not used and not running' category, just like those printer drivers.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26899
Little util to turn Dashboard off for good.
Why should I have to download a utility for this?
Originally posted by Kickaha
If you had the option of turning it off, would you be happier? That puts it right into the 'not used and not running' category, just like those printer drivers.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/26899
Little util to turn Dashboard off for good.
I think that's a mite drastic, Kicka. Some widgets are useful, so as with many things in life, a bit of moderation is appropriate, ie, limit the number of them and if some get out of hand memory wise, delete or inactivate them.
I've ordered a 512 MB module, BTW, which I hope will be plenty til such time as I get a new machine.
Does anyone know what Inactive RAM is and how it is different from Free RAM?
S.
Originally posted by ThinkingDifferent
Why should I have to download a utility for this?
You missed the point. You were asking for an install option, I was asking if just turning it off instead would be sufficient. FWIW, I think it *should* be able to be completely turned off... but I *was* trying to give you options. No skin off my teeth if you choose not to pursue it. I think making Dashboard alone an install option item is overkill though. What next, Spotlight? Maybe Burnable Folders?
OTOH, close all the widgets, and never activate it, and the only resources it'll be using is a bit of VM that will be swapped out on disk and a Dock icon. No real RAM, no CPU. Voila! Heck, empty out /Library/Widgets and save a few MB.
Originally posted by macmaniac
I think that's a mite drastic, Kicka.
Not when he was asking for a way to completely eliminate it from his system, it's not. Besides, other folks might be interested.
Some widgets are useful, so as with many things in life, a bit of moderation is appropriate, ie, limit the number of them and if some get out of hand memory wise, delete or inactivate them.
Well, the number of them running is only determined by how many you choose to plop down. Close them all = none running.
Monitoring memory use is an interesting idea, but how much is too much? Each widget will require its own proper allotment. The same has been tried for regular apps, and it simply ends up being more convoluted and complex that it's worth. Better to simply not run widgets known to leak, and inform the developers so they can fix them.
I've ordered a 512 MB module, BTW, which I hope will be plenty til such time as I get a new machine.
Of course it depends on what you're doing, but 512MB is my total, and it seems more than sufficient for my needs.
Does anyone know what Inactive RAM is and how it is different from Free RAM?
S.
Open /Applications/Utiltiies/Activity Monitor.app. Click on the System Memory tab on the bottom of the window. Hover your cursor over the Inactive and Free text at the bottom, and it'll give you explanations.
Inactive = allocated, but currently not being used.
Free = not even allocated, totally free.
Originally posted by Kickaha
You missed the point. You were asking for an install option, I was asking if just turning it off instead would be sufficient. FWIW, I think it *should* be able to be completely turned off... but I *was* trying to give you options. No skin off my teeth if you choose not to pursue it. I think making Dashboard alone an install option item is overkill though. What next, Spotlight? Maybe Burnable Folders?
OTOH, close all the widgets, and never activate it, and the only resources it'll be using is a bit of VM that will be swapped out on disk and a Dock icon. No real RAM, no CPU. Voila! Heck, empty out /Library/Widgets and save a few MB.
fair enough. i'm with kickaha on this. you want dashboard? load it up with all the widgets you like. personally, i have a few things going like moon phase, some weather, stocks, stickies, but this changes every few days depending on what i'm up to and what i'm interested in for those few days. you could say my widgets are 'rotated' regularly, with stickies and weather on 'regular rotation'.
don't like dashboard? zip up the Widgets in your Library or User/Library and chuck it somewhere safe. if dashboard running with absolutely NO widgets is causing you RAM and CPU problems, i think dashboard is not the issue there
it's not windoze xp, stuff in the mac os you don't like generally doesn't cause one much harm. turning off a whole bunch of crappy overused unnecessary fonts (especially those installed by ms office for mac) will speed some things up more than totally deactivating dashboard.
.......................
To expand on what sunrailman said about this not being XP... the virtual memory system and process management in OS X mean that if a process isn't *active*, it's not using any resources, short of a bit of swap space on disk.
It's *very* efficient. If you close all Widgets (because they want to be active), then the Dashboard infrastructure doesn't have anything left to do in the background, nor Widgets to take care of. So it won't take any CPU, and the RAM use is minimal... and all on disk, not in your physical RAM.
But turning it off would be a nice choice.
edit:
i've been severely embittered by iE 5/6 on win2000 where you click 'clear history' only to reopen the browser and finding teengirlsbeggingformore.com still there for all to see
This proves what I suspected - the ability to turn off Dashboard is already in the system, there just isn't a toggle for it. So you *can* turn it off without downloading anything, just enter the appropriate command into Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
Enter killall Dock to restart the Dock to get the new behaviour. Replace YES with NO to reenable the Dashboard.
LOL, very funny, Josh. "Memory" problem, hahaha.
S.
Open /Applications/Utiltiies/Activity Monitor.app. Click on the System Memory tab on the bottom of the window. Hover your cursor over the Inactive and Free text at the bottom, and it'll give you explanations.
Inactive = allocated, but currently not being used.
Free = not even allocated, totally free.
How does inactive RAM become Free?
Originally posted by Tidelwav
How does inactive RAM become Free?
When the contents are physically paged to disk. Although until a paged out chunk of ram is actually re-allocated to something else it can move from the free list back to active for no HD hitting penalty if the original process asks for it again.