I’ve come across another nice program, X Resource Graph by Gaucho Software.
X Resource Graph (XRG) is a nice freeware utility that presents system monitoring data in a self-contained bar. The graphs provide quick and easy summaries of the various operations of your system, from CPU usage to memory consumption to network traffic. It even has a temperature monitor. My mac doesn’t have the appropriate temperature sensors, so I’m not sure how well that feature works. In case you get bored or still feel understimulated with information, there are even graphs for monitoring stocks and local weather.
XRG’s user interface is configurable; you can choose what data you want to see. If you don’t want to see what’s happening on your ethernet interface, you don’t have to see it. The interface also supports skins. It’s pretty easy to configure the look to match your favorite background. On my machine, XRG is configured with transparent borders and background, only showing labels and graphs, so it doesn’t clutter up my desktop.
XRG is not a widget. I’ve seen a few other system monitoring widgets out there like iStat nano, but I use widgets so infrequently that something like iStat would annoy me.
Overall, X Resource Graph is a great, free system monitoring app. Everyone should give it a try at least once. Maybe twice.