Memory Stick Taught Me A Thing Or Two...

[Mayo]

I've been running the freeware app MemoryStick for a few days.  It places a small GUI on the desktop that shows wired, active, inactive and free memory amounts.

I have read that even under OS X applications can hold onto memory and if the Mac isn't restarted regularly you can actually get to the point where much of the memory is tied-up in one way or another.

Well, that certainly has been my experience.  I have 2.5GB of RAM in my G5 iMac and even though I wasn't running any memory-intensive apps my various small apps that I leave open much of the time were claiming a lot of RAM, to the point where I had relatively little inactive and free RAM remaining, along with 6 swap files open. MemoryStick also indicates when page-outs are occuring.

In the past I always turned-off my Mac at the end of the day, but recently I have been putting it to sleep and I turn it off maybe once a week.

After restarting the situation was reversed... Even though I have most of the same apps open, I have a lot of inactive and free RAM, and relatively little RAM tied-up.

The MemoryStick Help file has some good info on how OS X manages memory usage.

[Gregg]

I knew there was a good reason to shut down my Mac each night; besides the same reason I turn off the living room lamps before going to bed: 'cause I won't be using the light! Well, actually I do leave the Mac on all night at least once a week...

[Paddy]

Interesting - I've been in the habit of leaving the G5 running 24/7 and lately had noticed an annoying slowness. Figured it might be the fact that I had some 30 apps running with multiple windows open, but it didn't help much to just quit apps and close windows for things I was done working with for the time being. I was so busy for the past few weeks that shutting down completely seemed like just one more tax on my non-existent time, though it did occur to me in passing that it might help! I'll download that little app when I get home next week, and remember to restart every so often! I run automatic backups every night - so shutting down for the night isn't an option.

[Gregg]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Apr 16 2007, 09:38 PM) [snapback]124633[/snapback]

I run automatic backups every night - so shutting down for the night isn't an option.

Well, there are 24 hours in a day, and you're probably awake for 15 or 16 of them. I doubt that you're sitting at your computer all that time. I'm sure another schedule for backups would work and enable you to shut down overnight.