iPulse

What: System monitoring utility that provides an under-the-hood look at what your Mac is doing

By: iconfactory

Cost: $12.95

Download: www.iconfactory.com

Most people will never care what the temperature of their CPU is, how memory is being used, or the precise bandwidth of their network connection. For those who do, there's iPulse.

Roll your cursor over iPulse, and the program displays a pop-up window. By moving the cursor, you can inspect system-level data, including memory, disk usage, CPU usage, system load, motherboard temperature, and network activity. Get all the information you need from the info window or just watch iPulse's gauges on your desktop.

Understanding those gauges, however, is nonintuitive. The gauge shown in the figure displays 20 parameters. If you can remember what each one is, you are doing much better than I've been able to. I just rely on the pop-up windows when I want to know something.

Why I like it: There are many system monitoring programs available for the Mac mini. This one provides all the relevant information and does it with style to spare.