Tip for OS X: Monitor computer information directly from the Activity Monitor native application icon

You know the native OS X application called Activity Monitor (Activity Monitor), which, as its name implies, monitors what is happening on your machine? At the? So stop reading this text and watch this video lesson made by Rafael in 2009, but which is worth it for the most current version of the app.

Have you seen it? So let's tip today.

Before the arrival of OS X Mountain Lion I used iStat Pro, a very powerful widget that monitored CPU, memory, disks (internal and external HDDs), networks, machine temperatures, fans, battery, among other things. The widget was discontinued and the most supported by the old iSlayer, today called Bjango. Fortunately, the idea of ​​monitoring was not abandoned by the developer, who started to invest in iStat Menus, which recently arrived in the fourth verse.

Despite being a great app, not everyone is willing to pay to access monitoring functionality. Not least because, as shown in the video-lesson, OS X already comes with a good app that does the same thing.

Today's tip goes to anyone who is experiencing a problem with CPU performance, memory consumption or just wants to monitor disk or network usage constantly, without having to open / view the Activity Monitor window at all times .

1. Open the Activity Monitor (/ Applications / Utilities).
2. In the Dock, click on the icon and hold for a few seconds until the translucent menu appears.

3. Go to the Dock icon and choose the desired option between “Show CPU Usage”, “Show CPU History”, “Show Network Usage”, “Show Disk Activity” or “Show Memory Usage”.

Note that, when choosing one of these options, the icon in the Dock is replaced and becomes a monitor, showing the chosen information in real time. Then, with the app in the foreground, just use the shortcut Command + H (or go to the menu Hide Activity Monitor file) to hide your window. That done, you can work normally while monitoring the performance of the selected item.

It is true that, in the case of memory, for example, you need to decorate what each color represents. But, after a while using it, it won't be a problem.

(via Macworld)