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RAM Charger 8 HTML Manual


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IMAGE imgs/RCRef18.gif
Figure 5.The More About This MacWindow.

More About This Mac

What happened to my
About This Macintosh ?

Before there was RAM Charger, the only place to find out how memory was being used was to open your About This Macintosh window (or About This Computer window, depending upon your System Software version) in the Finder's menu. While this was useful in getting a general picture of memory use, there are some limitations in this display, particularly when reporting usage for RAM Charged applications. For example, the segment labeled System Software included all allocated memory other than that in the other listed program partitions. In particular, System Softwareincluded system objects, the Finder application partition, and any space for applications allocated outside of their static partitions (including space dynamically managed by RAM Charger).

RAM Charger now includes an improved About window called More About This Mac. This display provides a more complete and informative alternative to Apple's About This Macintosh window. (This is a version of another product called More About This Mac Pro, specially customized for integration with RAM Charger.)

Open More About This Macthe same way you would open Apple's AboutThis Macintosh window--from the Finder's menu. TheMore About This Macwindow is also available from the RAM Charger Pull-down Menu. You may still access Apple's About This Macintosh window from the RAM Charger Pull-down Menu, from the Windowmenu of More About This Mac, or by holding down the Shift key when selecting it from the Finder's menu. More About This Macis kept in the Control Panels folder and may be opened directly from there, as well.

The information in the header of the More About This Macwindow has been enhanced. The Total Unused Memory shown there is very useful to keep track of. As in the RAM Charger Pull-down Menu, it indicatesthe amount which is currently available to each RAM Charged application. Use Balloon Help to see explanations of the values displayed in the header.

 

Disabling More
About This Mac

 

If you prefer to get the Finder's About This Macintosh window when selecting it from the Finder's Apple menu, simply move More About This Macfrom the Control Panels folder (in your System Folder) and restart the computer. You may still open More About This Mac directly wherever you choose to keep it, in order to display its enhanced Aboutwindow.

 

Memory Bars

More About This Macdisplays the applications' icons, names, and actual memory usage in a numeric and bar graph representation. Each bar represents memory reserved for the named application. It is divided between memory used (dark segment) and memory available (light segment). Whenever you point at one of the bars, more details of the corresponding application's memory use are listed at the bottom of the window (see Figure 5).

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Bars that are displayed with a fuzzy right hand end represent applications that are RAM Charged and have the ability to grow and shrink, as needed.

Normally the bars are drawn to a scale where the largest application's bar just fills the width of the window. However, by clicking just to the left of a bar (where the magnifying glass cursor appears), all the bars are scaled so the one so selected just fills the width of the window.

If there are any bars whose scaled size makes them wider than the window, they are displayed with a break near the end.

 

Application Switcher

The More About This Mac window may also be used as a simple application switcher. Clicking to the left of an application's icon (where the check mark cursor appears) will bring the corresponding application to the front. Double clicking anywhere else in an application's entry will also bring it to the front. The application that is currently active (in front) will always be marked with a check to the left of its icon, similar to what you are familiar with in the application menu.

 

What If No RAM
Charger?

More About This Macis able to display a second About window just like the first, except that it depicts how memory would be used if RAM Charger was not active. Just select What If No RAM Charger? from the Window menu. The hypothetical situation depicted is the best possible use of memory for the given set of running applications -- since the history of starting and quitting applications is not recorded, no fragmentation of memory is simulated or shown. This means that the Largest Unused Block would be unrealistically calculated as equal to the Total Unused Memory, and is not meaningful. Also, the Total Unused Memory will be unrealistically high because the simulation cannot account for some memory used by the system nor temporary blocks used by applications outside of their starting memory partitions. Despite the overly optimistic portrayal of memory use, this can be an effective aid to understanding the benefits of using RAM Charger.

 

(RFeedMATMA -- 03/17/98)



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Copyright © 1995-98 Jump Development Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Jump, OptiMem, RAM Charger, and More About This Mac are trademarks of Jump Development Group, Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.