processing

This free utility brings all of your system's information under one roof for quick and easy access. For all the information that it holds, we were impressed with how easy it was to navigate.

System Spec opens with a well-designed user interface. Menu options and command buttons run across the top of the window, and your PC's information resides in the window below and in separate windows that appear when you click a command button. Initially, we found the windows a little difficult to resize because they ran off the screen, but eventually, we got them situated. All … Read more

A very accessible user interface and detailed user guidance and information are the hallmarks of this system utility that serves as an alternative to Windows' Task Manager.

MKN TaskExplorer opens with a nicely laid out user interface. At the top, you'll find command buttons for managing processes. The main window also displays CPU usage and memory usage. When we clicked on a specific process, the program displayed its detailed information, including a performance graph. Terminating and pausing processes was as easy as selecting the specific process and right-clicking. The program comes with a Memory Monitor that let us keep … Read more

Greatly improve your process-killing ability with Process Terminator, a utility with a simple list-and-button interface that is immediately operable by intermediate to advanced users. You probably won't even crack open the simple four-paragraph Help screen.

Operating Process Terminator is intuitive and simple. On start, the app loads the list of running processes. Selecting a process displays its start time, total CPU time utilized, maximum physical memory used and amount allocated, thread count, handle count, and whether the Process UI is responding. Double-clicking a listed name opens the folder where the process is located. Any process is easily killed with … Read more

Greatly improve your process-killing ability with this freeware utility. Process Terminator's simple list-and-button interface is immediately operable by intermediate to advanced users. Most won't even crack open the simple four-paragraph Help screen.

Operating Process Terminator is intuitive and simple. On start, the app loads the list of running processes. Selecting a process displays its start time, total CPU time utilized, maximum physical memory used and amount allocated, thread count, handle count, and whether the Process UI is responding. Double-clicking a listed name opens the folder where the process is located. Any process is easily killed with a single … Read more

This robust freeware displays system activity with more detail than many expensive programs. System Explorer's tight multitabbed interface logically arranges and displays more information than most experienced users would need. The program could use a Help manual, but at least there's expert user knowledge online.

Operating System Explorer is primarily a point-and-click affair. The application loads all the information it collects when you start it. Fourteen tabs logically spread the information into manageable portions. With a click, users can monitor tasks, processes, performance, history, windows, connections, and opened files. Each tab includes detailed information about the items included. … Read more

If you have a lot of media to browse through, no matter what viewer you use, it's bound to take some time. Whatever the project may be--from picking the best shots from a pro photo shoot to getting the most action-packed movie clips from a birthday party--you need a good way to browse, compare, and sort through your media quickly. The obvious choices on your Mac are iPhoto or iMovie, but if you're looking for a different way to sort through several media file-types with added unique features, check out AtomicView.

AtomicView offers a sparse, but intuitive interface … Read more

IBM has added NEC to its growing list of allied companies doing research on next-generation chip manufacturing technology.

On Thursday, IBM and NEC Electronics signed an agreement for joint development of next-generation semiconductor manufacturing process technology, which includes participation in an IBM-led effort focused on 32-nanometer chips and, later, 22-nanometer chips. Currently, companies like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are bringing 45-nanometer chips to market.

Generally, as geometries get smaller, chips get faster and more power-efficient.

IBM has accumulated a large, eclectic group of chipmakers at its semiconductor fabrication facility in East Fishkill, N.Y., and the College of Nanoscale … Read more

Photoshop CS3 for Mac is still your top choice if you're serious about image editing. Loaded with features for color-correction, photo enhancements, filters, effects, and layer management, Photoshop is the pro-level image-editing software to measure all others by. If you'd like a closer look at some of the features Photoshop CS3 has to offer, check out our First Look video to see if you're ready to download the trial.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Nvidia is making a case for the graphics processing unit, the other chip inside the PC, at the Nvision conference that opened on Monday.

In his inaugural keynote--this is first Nvision conference--Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang reminded the audience that the graphics processing unit (GPU) has come a long way. In short, the GPU has evolved from the simple fixed-function graphics accelerator (e.g., the IBM 8514 that debuted in 1987) to the modern graphics chip, a computing engine capable of almost one teraflop of processing power. (A teraflop is equal to one trillion floating point operations per … Read more