Windows Veteran Using Mac Studio (Monterey 12): It's Rides Different!

[GrievousAngel]

I have been using Windows since 3.1 and have experience maintaining UNIX-based CAD Micro from years back. It's obvious to me that the Mac OS was developed with UNIX influences, which is to be expected from Motorola platform development. That is all good, no serious complaints so far.

I find that doing similar task on my new Mac as opposed to Windows 10+ is not as obvious or to be fair just different. I am one that likes local file systems, and to use the 'cloud' for backup and for easy availability across other devices. It appears that Apple prefers the 'cloud' as the primary location of your data and often apps as well. I get it ... the use of iCloud leans into the many other devices Apple offers. The technology push is on better lens and capturing systems.

Anyways, I drifted off-topic a little. What I need to do is become better acquainted with Monterey. A lot of its features are labeled with nice names, etc. but where is the local copy? Is there an article link that documents files locations and such?

What inspired me to do this thread, I got an alert message telling me to force close my running apps due to running out of memory, etc.! So I did, however when I reopened an application, [it] lost the 'Recently Opened' file list. I only have 32Mb of ram but I only had small apps running, i.e., no AutoCAD or video rendering! Freaked me a little, but nothing was lost, I had to do some digging around to locate the data file.

Like I said, it rides different! Later

 

[m1maverick]

😀
I have been using Windows since 3.1 and have experience maintaining UNIX-based CAD Micro from years back. It's obvious to me that the Mac OS was developed with UNIX influences, which is to be expected from Motorola platform development. That is all good, no serious complaints so far.

I find that doing similar task on my new Mac as opposed to Windows 10+ is not as obvious or to be fair just different. I am one that likes local file systems, and to use the 'cloud' for backup and for easy availability across other devices. It appears that Apple prefers the 'cloud' as the primary location of your data and often apps as well. I get it ... the use of iCloud leans into the many other devices Apple offers. The technology push is on better lens and capturing systems.

Anyways, I drifted off-topic a little. What I need to do is become better acquainted with Monterey. A lot of its features are labeled with nice names, etc. but where is the local copy? Is there an article link that documents files locations and such?

What inspired me to do this thread, I got an alert message telling me to force close my running apps due to running out of memory, etc.! So I did, however when I reopened an application, [it] lost the 'Recently Opened' file list. I only have 32Mb of ram but I only had small apps running, i.e., no AutoCAD or video rendering! Freaked me a little, but nothing was lost, I had to do some digging around to locate the data file.

Like I said, it rides different! Later

With 32MB of memory it's understandable how you exhausted it so quickly😀 Seriously though...what are you doing that consumed 32GB of RAM to the point you had to force quit the application?

macOS is different than Windows. When I first started using MacOS 7.x I found it to be unintuitive and difficult. Until I learned that I shouldn't be trying to do it the Windows way. Once I did that I found it to be quite intuitive. Today I find neither to be more or less easier to use, just different. I think you'll like macOS once you get used to the Mac way.

 

[eicca]

Sounds like you might have had a Monterey Memory Leak... Finder and WindowServer are the top two suspects on my list.

You should be more than fine with 32GB of RAM. My laptop only has 8GB and I never have issues (until the aforementioned memory leaks occur). That's a Monterey-specific bug it seems.

 

[lcubed]

I have been using Windows since 3.1 and have experience maintaining UNIX-based CAD Micro from years back. It's obvious to me that the Mac OS was developed with UNIX influences, which is to be expected from Motorola platform development. That is all good, no serious complaints so far.

I find that doing similar task on my new Mac as opposed to Windows 10+ is not as obvious or to be fair just different. I am one that likes local file systems, and to use the 'cloud' for backup and for easy availability across other devices. It appears that Apple prefers the 'cloud' as the primary location of your data and often apps as well. I get it ... the use of iCloud leans into the many other devices Apple offers. The technology push is on better lens and capturing systems.

Anyways, I drifted off-topic a little. What I need to do is become better acquainted with Monterey. A lot of its features are labeled with nice names, etc. but where is the local copy? Is there an article link that documents files locations and such?

What inspired me to do this thread, I got an alert message telling me to force close my running apps due to running out of memory, etc.! So I did, however when I reopened an application, [it] lost the 'Recently Opened' file list. I only have 32Mb of ram but I only had small apps running, i.e., no AutoCAD or video rendering! Freaked me a little, but nothing was lost, I had to do some digging around to locate the data file.

Like I said, it rides different! Later

i'm pretty sure that you meant 32 GB of ram.

there's no requirement to use the cloud as the primary location for your data.
(i'd be in big trouble since my various photos occupy several terabytes of SSD space)

for things like calendars and contacts, it does make some sense to use iCloud for synchronization purposes,
but for documents, music, photos (and especially large video projects), it depends on your workflow.

as far as local file systems, instead of the A:. B: etc, OSX mounts the various filesystems under:

/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes

Data is where all the nonApple volumes get mounted.
very handy when you need to do a full restore/reinstall of the OS,
that doesn't whack all your data and require a painful reinstall from a backup.

try the terminal app in the utilities folder. brings back memories of unix admin and bash

 

[F-Train]

You can set your Mac up to use iCloud as much or as little as you want. I make selective use of it.

There's a Mac User Guide here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac The guide is also available on your computer at Finder > Help. There's no shortage of geekier stuff about the MacOS file system on the internet. If you want to get under the hood, check out the Terminal app on your Mac. David Pogue used to write good guides each year, but he says on Twitter that two publishers turned him down for Monterey - not enough money in computer guides.

I have no idea how you managed to exceed 32GB of memory using day-to-day apps. One tip... If you lose all your open Safari tabs (e.g. due to a force quit or by accidentally quitting the app), go to Safari > History > Reopen.

 

[GrievousAngel]

With 32MB of memory it's understandable how you exhausted it so quickly😀 Seriously though...what are you doing that consumed 32GB of RAM to the point you had to force quit the application?

macOS is different than Windows. When I first started using MacOS 7.x I found it to be unintuitive and difficult. Until I learned that I shouldn't be trying to do it the Windows way. Once I did that I found it to be quite intuitive. Today I find neither to be more or less easier to use, just different. I think you'll like macOS once you get used to the Mac way.

Nothing intense for sure. I was browsing earlier and downloaded a few files. I turned away for 5 minutes or so, then I noticed the warning. Hopefully it was an unusual event that consumed most of 32Gb!

Sorry, not 32Mb but 32Gb! I have/had a Intel x299 system (X10900 CPU) with 64Gb and I run AudoCAD 2D, audio and video editing, etc. and never noticed a memory shortage.

I hope 32Gb is adequate memory for my applications. I do like my Mac Studio especially for audio applications I run, but Apple makes life hard by making upgrades impossible or risky. That is the reason I put off getting a MAc for years, but the Mac Studio M1 Monterey handles some applications well and/or it's the only dance in town! I wanted the 64Gb 1Tb SSD M1 but those two upgrades pushed it near $3k! I hope I'm OK for now.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[GrievousAngel]

You can set your Mac up to use iCloud as much or as little as you want. I make selective use of it.

There's a Mac User Guide here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac The guide is also available on your computer at Finder > Help. There's no shortage of geekier stuff about the MacOS file system on the internet. If you want to get under the hood, check out the Terminal app on your Mac. David Pogue used to write good guides each year, but he says on Twitter that two publishers turned him down for Monterey - not enough money in computer guides.

I have no idea how you managed to exceed 32GB of memory using day-to-day apps. One tip... If you lose all your open Safari tabs (e.g. due to a force quit or by accidentally quitting the app), go to Safari > History > Reopen.

Actually I did eventually venture into the Console app, and yes it is structured very much like UNIX. Every UNIX command I used worked. Cool. I have to get use to terms like Finder, Preview, Time Machine ... strange names for a serious computer. Like I said, it rides different. Later

 

[Soba]

Actually I did eventually venture into the Console app, and yes it is structured very much like UNIX. Every UNIX command I used worked. Cool. I have to get use to terms like Finder, Preview, Time Machine ... strange names for a serious computer. Like I said, it rides different. Later

It actually is UNIX! Every version of macOS has been registered as UNIX 03 compliant going back to 2007, and thus macOS is POSIX compliant.

The terminal is not there just for appearances. The userland itself is very similar to FreeBSD, but all of the pretty graphical stuff just runs on top of a Unix-like operating system called Darwin. Darwin incorporates code from a number of sources, including NeXTSTEP, Mach, BSD, and others. Darwin itself is not fully POSIX compliant, and thus is not a true UNIX system, but macOS is.

Every time you sit down at a Mac, you are using a UNIX system.

Regarding your memory exhaustion, I suggest making sure your system is up to date. Go to the Apple menu > System Preferences > Software Update and install anything you see there. There were some significant memory leak bugs that have since been fixed with software updates.

Welcome to the Mac fold.

 

[m1maverick]

Nothing intense for sure. I was browsing earlier and downloaded a few files. I turned away for 5 minutes or so, then I noticed the warning. Hopefully it was an unusual event that consumed most of 32Gb!

Sorry, not 32Mb but 32Gb! I have/had a Intel x299 system (X10900 CPU) with 64Gb and I run AudoCAD 2D, audio and video editing, etc. and never noticed a memory shortage.

I hope 32Gb is adequate memory for my applications. I do like my Mac Studio especially for audio applications I run, but Apple makes life hard by making upgrades impossible or risky. That is the reason I put off getting a MAc for years, but the Mac Studio M1 Monterey handles some applications well and/or it's the only dance in town! I wanted the 64Gb 1Tb SSD M1 but those two upgrades pushed it near $3k! I hope I'm OK for now.

Thanks for your comments.

I was just teasing you with the MB comment

As others have said I think it was a memory leak. 32GB is a good amount of memory (can you believe there was a time when I was making the same comment about 32MB of memory?) and the usage you described shouldn't be an issue. Have you experienced a crash since this one?

 

[haralds]

This is totally abnormal behavior.