iMac task manager?

Question

Level 1

4 points

iMac task manager?

This is my first Mac computer, and I can't seem to be able to get it to display all running programs. I've got the Activity Monitor, but it only shows total activity, not what exactly is running. I know on Windows machines, you can right-click in the tool bar and select "task manager", and a window opens showing all running applications and processes. I can't believe Mac does not have such a thing, but I can't find it. Can anyone help? Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Intel-based,2.99 Ghz dual core,4 GB RAM,

Posted on Oct 2, 2010 6:40 PM

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Answer 1

BobHarris

Level 9

57,513 points

Oct 2, 2010 6:50 PM in response to montelee

Activity Monitor should have a "Show" button on the right side. Select "All Processes"

You can also use Activity Monitor -> View to specify which process stats you want displayed in the columns.

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Answer 2

Oct 3, 2010 1:47 AM in response to montelee

Hi

Additionally you can use the command line:

top

Will show you everything. The manual page "man top" will show you further options.

Tony

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Answer 3

Euchre

Level 4

1,275 points

Oct 3, 2010 12:49 PM in response to montelee

Welcome to  Discussions!

If you want a quick way to get to a dialog to quit (close) an application, you can click the Apple logo on the menu bar and choose Force Quit, or use the keyboard shortcut Command ( or ⌘) + Option (Alt) + Esc.

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Answer 4

montelee Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 4, 2010 9:56 PM in response to BobHarris

Thanks- I had no idea how to show the processes before.Actually, I found that I had to right-click on the Activity Monitor's dock icon, then choose Monitors>Show Monitors. Then I got a big Activity Monitor window which had a drop-down menu above "Show" from which I could select which processes would be displayed. Now, maybe I can figure out what's going on when the CPU monitor shows 50-60% usage when there are no programs running. And maybe why it runs incredibly hot most of the time, even with minimal programs running.Again, thanks!

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