Thanks Ronni.. I'll stop worrying about it and try to minimise apps open to those I'm using. Thanks again Marcus
Sent from Marcus iPhone 5 > On 24 Jan 2015, at 7:22 pm, Ronni Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Marcus, > >> On 24 Jan 2015, at 5:13 pm, Marcus F Harris <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I have been using Flip Labs “Memory Clean". It seems ok and certainly after >> I use it more useable memory appears. > > I don't think you understand how virtual memory works. Technical computer > users consider memory optimisers snakeoil and have for years. > Read first about virtual memory. Then read some articles about why purging > "inactive" RAM is useless and harmful to computer performance. > > <https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/ManagingMemory/Articles/AboutMemory.html> > > If it makes you feel better to see all that green "free" RAM that is fine by > me, but thinking this is necessary ignores the technical reality of this kind > of software... > ----- > /Begin Quote: > Having a low levels of free RAM will not harm your system at all, and will > only reduce its capacity to open more items. However, if you are regularly > running low on memory, even though programs like "purge" may show an > immediate increase in free RAM, this change is only temporary and will not > help the system optimize RAM usage. In fact, it may even show a small hit on > performance. > > The purge command and other memory cleaning routines simply bypass the > system's automatic memory management and clear out unused memory contents > manually, sometimes doing so by putting a large, temporary load on the system > to stress the RAM usage and squeezing the memory footprint of other programs > to be as small as possible. > > When you run these utilities, you will see the green "free memory" portion of > the memory chart in Activity Monitor get larger, suggesting more RAM is now > available. However, while this technically does result in more RAM being > designated as "free," it is only a temporary measure since the system and > programs will progressively load this data back into RAM again, only now > being bottlenecked by the hard drive's slower speed and therefore will run a > bit slower than usual during this time. > > To give an analogy of this process, consider RAM as the tabletop of a desk on > which you work. If the table is empty then there is space for you to put the > equipment you need for your job -- pens, papers, books, and other tools > analogous to applications you use in a computer. However, if the table is > smaller, you cannot put as many items on it, or if you do you will have less > overall space on which to work. > > This is the same for computers, where if you load many programs, widgets, and > system tools, then the space remaining to do work will be more limited, > especially if you have only a limited amount of RAM to begin with. > > Using memory cleaners is like shoving all of your pens, papers, and books > into a tight pile in one corner of the desk, and even putting some into the > desk drawers to clear as much of the tabletop as possible. > > While doing this technically gives you more room in which to work, to get > things done you may need to sift through the pile and spread its contents out > again. This is what happens with the computer: after running "purge," when > you access various programs they will simply spread out and reclaim the RAM > and other memory components that you freed up. > > Therefore, if you are constantly running low on memory and are seeing regular > slowdowns as a result, then upgrade your RAM (to at least double your current > amount, especially if you currently have only 4GB) instead of running memory > cleaning routines. Getting more RAM for your system would be like getting a > table top extension for your desk, so the computer can "spread out" your > work, be more efficient, and run at optimal speeds. > /End Quote > > > Cheers, > Ronni > > 13-inch MacBook Air (April 2014) > 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost to 3.3GHz > 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM > 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage > > OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
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