memory

When you install memory in most Mac systems, provided everything went well, the computer will simply boot with a new memory capacity. However, on the Mac Pro you might see a tool called Apple Memory Utility launch to indicate a new memory configuration has been detected.

This tool should show only once and state whether or not the installed memory is in the recommended slot configuration for optimal performance. In some cases, however, this tool may load every time you boot the system after upgrading. While it can be dismissed by pressing the OK button, having it load each time … Read more

Is the Surface Pro a tablet or a laptop? Well, let's put it this way: benchmarks put it squarely in the laptop category, leaving Apple and Android tablets in the dust.

Chip review site Anandtech ran benchmarks on the solid-state drive in Microsoft's new Surface Pro tablet, underscoring the performance gap with the flash drive in Apple's iPad 4.

It's a "full blown" SSD, wrote Anand Shimpi of Anandtech, referring to Micron Technology's C400 solid-state drive in the Surface that Anandtech tested.

The Micron SSD posted speeds of 400 megabytes-per-second when reading data … Read more

With the 128GB iPad, Apple is obviously trying to steal thunder from Microsoft's Saturday roll out of the Surface Pro. But that doesn't mean you can equate the iPad's disk performance with the Surface Pro's.

Apple's carefully-timed release of the 128GB iPad ostensibly puts the iPad's storage on par with Microsoft's 128GB Surface Pro, which will go on sale Saturday.

Well, not quite.

Apple is using a flash drive optimized for power efficiency, while Microsoft's solid-state drive favors speed -- the same kind of drive used in ultrabooks. (And Apple's MacBooks, … Read more

Ultrabook sales sent NAND flash memory revenue down in 2012, new data from IHS iSuppli has revealed.

The company said today that revenue fell 7 percent in 2012 to $19.7 billion from $21.2 billion in 2011. Ultrabooks proved to be the culprit for the decline, according to the research firm.

"A major drag on the NAND industry was the disappointing sales of Ultrabooks, negatively impacting the flash memory prospects of cache solid state drives (SSD) used in the superthin computers," iSuppli wrote today in its research posting. "While Ultrabooks have had some success penetrating into … Read more

This could be the year of the solid-state drive.

Newfangled uber-thin Windows 8 devices and falling flash memory prices could double the size of the solid-state drive market, according to a research note today from IHS iSuppli.

"The newest wave of ultrabooks loaded with Windows 8 has started to generate enthusiasm," wrote Ryan Chien, analyst for memory and storage at IHS, adding that a growing appetite for laptops, hybrids, and tablets could conspire with falling flash memory prices to drive demand.

Worldwide SSD shipments are expected to rise to 83 million units this year, up from 39 million … Read more

The loved ones of Internet activist Aaron Swartz are holding a memorial service Saturday in New York City "to celebrate his life and remember their beloved friend, sibling, child, and partner," according to a press release.

Swartz's suicide last week spurred criticism over the U.S. prosecutor's handling of his computer fraud case, with critics accusing the feds of unfairly trying to make an example of the 26-year-old hacker.

Swartz was accused of stealing 4 million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jstor, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. The authorities claimed … Read more

Memory Clean is an app for cleaning up your Mac OS X device memory at intervals. Memory Clean is available from the App Store or several download sites, and installs easily. Memory Clean is a free app.

Memory Clean is meant to be run after using memory-intensive applications or games, which can fragment the blocks of free memory in your system. Fragmented memory can lead to degraded performance. Memory Clean does not work continuously, but whenever you launch it. A nice touch is an interface that shows you the amount of free memory you had before running Memory Clean as … Read more

Besides installing an SSD to replace a mechanical hard drive, RAM upgrades are one of the more significant and beneficial upgrades you can do for a PC system. When it comes to Apple's systems, however, RAM upgrades from Apple itself have been insanely expensive, so my recommendation has always been, unless the RAM is soldered to the motherboard (as it is with the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro), to purchase only the base amount of RAM and then upgrade it yourself later on.

Such was the case with my most recent Mac, a 17-inch 2011 MacBook Pro that … Read more

When your PC is misbehaving wouldn't it be easier to press just one button instead of hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del to close programs? Wise Memory Optimizer will optimize your computer's memory on demand, as often as you like. You won't even have to close any programs.

This program's interface is very simple and neat. It graphs your system's memory on a pie chart so you know how much memory you're using and how much free memory you have. There is a large green button you need to click to optimize your memory usage. There are also … Read more