M E M O R Y   M A N A G E M E N T

 

 

This is one of those topics where there are some pieces where Windows does a better job handling memory, and other pieces where the Mac does. So here goes.

Windows puts every running application in its own (metaphorical) "box" (called a virtual machine, in case you wanted to know) so that if the application crashes, it only affects the stuff inside the box, and the rest of the system doesn’t come crumbling down.

Mac OS 9 puts everything in the same box. So, unfortunately, if one application crashes, there’s the possibility that all of the other running applications will, too. However, Mac OS X is set to fix all that by following the same model as Windows and putting each application in its own box.

Mac OS, on the other hand, does a great job of managing the system’s memory when applications are all running smoothly. For instance, I can find out that Outlook Express is taking up exactly 7.1 MB in memory right now.

If I wanted to find out the same information in Windows, all I could discover would be that the system’s overall resources are 91 percent free. What are the system’s resources? I just wanted to know about Outlook Express. However, Windows will be pleased to tell me when I’ve run out of memory, which is when the system’s resources dip below 20 percent or so. What’s wrong with the remaining 20 percent?

And there’s another problem with Windows, and that has to do with virtual memory. Virtual memory is a chunk of your hard disk that you can reserve, so that you can let the system use some of it for memory. It just lets you run more applications. For instance, with Mac OS, if you have 64 MB of memory installed on the system, you can allocated another 64 MB on a hard disk, so you have a total of 128 MB of memory to run applications with. And that number (64 MB) is easily set with the Memory control panel.

Windows, however, does this allocation for you. So, theoretically, the memory you have available is the same as the amount of free space you have on your hard disk. Make sense?

Here’s the problem part: when you run out of memory in Windows, you’re technically running out of disk space. So, in order to run more programs, you have to delete things off your hard disk. And that’s just confusing.

Of course, you can tell Windows that it only has a fixed amount of space to deal with, but it will scream and yell at you before it lets you change the setting. And heaven forbid you should ever turn virtual memory off in Windows. There’s just not enough space for everything!

Turning virtual memory off in Mac OS is a breeze, and there are no warnings of impending doom that you have to deal with.