Peek-a-Boo is Clarkwood Software’s OS X application to watch processes.

There are several factors that we think make Peek-a-Boo special; this blog entry explains some of the decisions behind Peek-a-Boo’s design philosophy and why Peek-a-Boo has been maintained, updated, and used for two decades.

Many Pieces of Information Available

A primary design philosophy of Peek-a-Boo, since its 1.0 release in 1993 (well before OS X; in fact, System 7 was the current Mac operating system), has been that it should be able to show as many items of process information as possible, and allow the user the freedom to pick which of those items are important to view. That’s why you’ll never see a version of Peek-a-Boo with a handful of process information items hardcoded to what we think is the most important set of process information properties.

There are two common kinds of processes encountered on OS X (and a third rarely encountered kind), and Peek-a-Boo is the only utility able to display information about each kind.

1. OS X Applications are processes which are OS X native and offer a user interface. Generally if a process has an icon, it’s an OS X Application.
2. Darwin processes are generally lower-level processes, which do not offer a friendly user interface. These can be seen from command-line tools like ps and top, as well as from Peek-a-Boo.
3. Classic Applications are applications running in the Classic compatibility environment. (These are becoming rarer, as more of the installed based of Macintosh computers are Intel-based; Intel-based Macs do not support the Classic compatibility environment.)

Virtually any piece of information can be seen in Peek-a-Boo’s process list. The View menu contains one submenu with many pieces of information that Peek-a-Boo knows how to extract (the Built-in Items submenu), and another submenu with all the pieces of information extractable by the ps (process status) Darwin/Unix utility.

Many Sources of Process Information

OS X offers several different ways to extract process information, and Peek-a-Boo uses all of them.

• OS X’s Unix foundation supplies many pieces of information for each process (except individual Classic applications).
• The ps command-line tool offers several dozen pieces of information for each process (except individual Classic applications).
• The Carbon Process Manager offers information for each running application (but not low-level Darwin/Unix processes).
• The Classic Process Manager supplies additional information for each running Classic application.

Peek-a-Boo is the only utility available which can extract information from all these sources and coalesce all the information into one easy-to-understand interface.

Focus on Processes

Peek-a-Boo’s design philosophy is heavily biased towards being able to analyze information on a process-by-process basis, as opposed to a system-wide basis. This focus can be seen in features such as the CPU Usage History windows and the Logging windows which also enable logging information to a file.

Highly Customizable

Peek-a-Boo has a history of being very highly customizable. The tyranny of being bound to eight pieces of process information is over! The View menu allows extraordinary customization of which process items you see (only a few if you want, or a plethora of arcane process data if you’d prefer), and the Preferences panes allow further view-specific customization.

Easy to Monitor Process Behavior

Peek-a-Boo makes it easy to monitor resource usage. Memory information takes the guesswork out of knowing when adding memory will improve performance; and Peek-a-Boo’s graphical CPU interface makes it clear when performance is CPU-bound.

Peek-a-Boo makes it easy to notice processes that are using a surprising amount of memory or CPU time. The logging windows can be very helpful for detecting processes that may leak memory over time. These features can be particularly useful to developers and quality assurance departments as well as anyone who simply wants to know what’s going on with the applications they are running.

Easy to Manipulate Processes

Peek-a-Boo makes it easy to perform process-specific operations such as bringing an application to the front, hiding an application, or killing a process. Obviously some of these features must be used with care, but having many common “tools” at your fingertips makes Peek-a-Boo an even more useful process-watching utility.

Psst: On The QT, You Need Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-Boo has been described by one long-time user as “the utility I didn’t realize I needed, until I’d used it for awhile.”

Peek-a-Boo focuses on two things: clarity and flexibility. From the moment you first launch Peek-a-Boo, it will be clear what is happening with processes on your Mac. And you will find the flexibility to explore any process-related questions you face.

We’re confident that even if your frustration (towards the Mac’s complexity) is at its peak, a quick peek under the hood will pique your curiosity and lead you upwards, onwards, and forwards, twirling into process-comprehension nirvana.

Give Peek-a-Boo a try; see if you would also describe Peek-a-Boo as the utility you didn’t realize you needed.

—Bob