Tag: PROCESS

Last year, Google kicked up Gmail with Priority Inbox, which uses a clever algorithm to decide which incoming email are most important to you. And now, with the introduction of Smart Labels, even more zero-config automated sorting is here to help your webmail woes. Smart Labels will automatically scour for and tag any bulk mail, notifications, and forum communications you receive. You're not ...

After originally reporting on the introduction of WebKit2 back in April 2010, it looks like it will finally be rolled out with OS X Lion, in a new version of the Safari Web browser. WebKit2, rather than being a whole new rendering engine, is a layer around WebKit that adds more stability, security and speed -- not entirely unlike the Google Chrome sandbox, which is also strapped onto a version ...

Tech favorite WinPatrol -- a great tool for keeping an eye on system processes and files -- has been updated to 20.0.2011. Support for 64-bit Windows installations has been improved, and WinPatrol is generally more responsive now than in previous versions. WinPatrol's "move to delayed start" option provides a nice way to improve your system's startup time, and it has also been tweaked for better ...

TopWinPrio's function is mashed right into its name. Once you launch the app, it hides in your system tray and automatically bumps the process priority of your foreground window. If you're focused on an app and working in it, it might as well have dibs on available CPU time, right? Head to the options window, and you can set TopWinPrio to run at startup, boost Explorer processes, and change ...

Mozilla has been working on bolting on a little Chrome-style crash proofing through the use of out-of-process plugins. Doing so will mean that Firefox users, too, can endure crashes by things like Flash Player, Adobe Reader, and Java, without their entire browsing session going for a dirt nap. According to minutes posted from a recent platform meeting, the change will arrive in the upcoming ...

One type of program I often forget to load on a fresh Windows install is a good photo resizing tool. Sometimes -- like when I want to create a screenshot tour of an app -- it would make things simpler to just dump a pile of full-size screenshots into a folder and let some little app churn out images resized to the dimensions I need. Photo Magician is an excellent option. It weighs in at ...

Hot on the heels of news that Flash is the most insecure and unstable element of the modern web browsing experience, the just-released Firefox 3.7 alpha 2 now loads plugins -- like Shockwave Flash -- into separate processes! Security and stability nerds rejoice! It's not quite per-tab processes, nor have Firefox add-ons been shifted into their own processes, but... so what?! This is still a ...

Like to keep tabs on where your system resources are going in Windows? If you're running Vista or Windows 7, take a look at Auslogics' FileInspect sidebar gadget. It's a handy way to see how much of your RAM or CPU is being used by the programs you have running. The gadget can display 1, 3, 5, or 10 items at a time and you can also tweak the update interval. You'll likely have more than 10 ...

Task Manager is an extremely handy tool, but it does lack a few features that would make it even more useful. Say, for example, the ability to control + click or shift + click to quickly select multiple processes you want to terminate. Like so many tiny omissions in Windows, there's a free utility which steps in nicely to add that missing functionality. Spacetornado Killer is a tiny (44KB) ...

As I mentioned last time, don't choose a tool that doesn't fit your flow. What does that mean? Here's an example: I thought I'd be clever and create a separate flow for home and work. Since I work at home, the thinking was that I'd further separate my two worlds with two systems. In one corner I had The Hit List syncing to iCal which in turn was syncing with Todo on my iPhone. In the other ...

Windows' built in Task Manager is good enough to get by, but it's not really changed much since NT. If you're looking for a better alternative, MKN TaskExplorer is an option worth downloading. The program window's default view provides a good amount of information without being overwhelming. Double clicking any task brings up a detailed view of its activity including CPU, memory, disk, and ...

Okay, confession time. Despite being an early adopter for most things, I hadn't caught the basecamp train and got on board. Why you ask? I had no good use for it, though it is an excellently crafted application. I love software, and thus I checked it out, but for some reason I didn't see how its use would fit into my busy life, until now. Becoming a self-employed web developer threw my daily ...

Ever have a virus or other program that you can't get rid of because it won't die long enough for you to delete it? When Spybot, Ad-Aware, and others fail, turn to Killbox. This handy-dandy download will kill anything currently running on your PC, so you can remove it. Simply enter the path of the offending guest, and Killbox will go to town on it. Think of it like the in-memory mafia. Killbox ...