What's the multi colored pinwheel I get when I work on my mac book pro?

That means the MBP is thinking about what you want it to do.

You tend to see more of the spinning beachball if:

• You are low on physical RAM
• You are low on free space on the hard drive
• You insist on running commercial (and unneeded) anti-virus or internet security software
• You are using third-party backup software
• You use third-party system hacks/modifiers

to name a few.

If you're familiar with Windows it's equivalent to the hourglass in Windows - it means the system is busy and you have to wait before it will respond to mouse clicks or key presses by you.

Zyriab wrote:

it means the system is busy and you have to wait before it will respond to mouse clicks or key presses by you.

Sligh correction here. Sometimes it is the system; but sometimes it is just a specific app, while the system will continue to accept user input, and you may switch to a different app.

The 'official' name is the spinning wait cursor. Go to

<http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html>

for a few more details and troubleshooting techniques (if necessary).