So as I was saying about widgets pretty much sucking here is more fuel for the fire…

http://www.gauchosoft.com/Software/Dash%20Monitors/

I found this companies Dash Monitors widget on the apple website (one of the top ones actually).

Get this…

I am on a dual 2.0 G5 and when I run that widget it uses 10-15% of my CPU rendering the animation of the CPU bars, so it is self perpetuating like the nasty feedback from a microphone. The more the CPU is used the more they jump around and the more they jump around the more CPU they use.

GRRRRRRRRRRR…..

According to our good friend Activity Monitor AKA “Visual top” widgets take waste a crapload of RAM. I am sure we are going to hear a whole ton about this in the future but here is run down of how much RAM my current widgets are taking up.

click to enlarge

My advice is to ditch the dashboard until Apple realizes that not everyone wants to spend hundreds on extra RAM.

I am sure it is documented somewhere but if you are having issues with a widget not being up to date on your dashboard you can press Apple + R and the widget that you have selected will reload, just as a webpage would. Makes sense since that is really what widgets are anyways right?

Also this is cool because it refreshes with a nice warp animation. Give it a try!

I am going to be posting a series of Tiger Tips as I find them. They will be filed under the Tiger Tips category for your easy viewing pleasure

Enjoy!