When programs load on your Mac, the files needed to run them are loaded into RAM;
CHAPTER 19: It??™s Alive! Adding Hardware to Your Mac(enstein) 411
the more files that are needed to run a program, or the more programs you have running at one
time, the more space that is taken up in RAM. When there is no longer any space left in RAM,
your Mac brilliantly begins using the virtual memory space made available on the hard drive.
This all sounds like a genius way of handling things, and indeed it is, but it??™s not the optimal
way, to be sure. RAM is much, much faster than a hard drive, so when your Mac accesses data
for a program stored in RAM, it is blazingly speedy. On the other hand, if the Mac has to begin
accessing that data from the hard drive, the operations get noticeably much slower. The more
memory you add, the less chance your Mac will need to access virtual memory at all.
???I??™m Convinced! How Do I Install More Memory????
Each consumer Mac has different specifications regarding the type of memory it needs, so
be sure to check the documentation that came with your Mac or consult Apple??™s support site
(www.
Pages:
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453