Plummer’s new app aims to fill the void left by macOS’s Activity Monitor, which he calls inadequate. According to reports, he has been working on a macOS version of the Task Manager, one that mirrors its Windows counterpart in layout and functionality.
The app, seen in a shared screenshot, looks strikingly similar to the Task Manager most Windows users have relied on for decades. The interface, with its Process tab and memory breakdowns, promises a familiar experience to those who’ve moved from Windows to Apple.
Plummer hasn’t set a release date, but he’s floated the idea of a free beta followed by a potential App Store listing. If he grows impatient, the code might end up in a git repo, he says, letting users take it and run with it.
The app is not just a nostalgic project. It reflects a demand for tools that cross platform lines — for a feature Apple doesn’t provide, but users clearly miss.
Plummer’s original design for Windows, launched in the 1990s, gave users visibility over system performance, memory and processes. Now, on a different system, he’s trying to bring that same sense of control to macOS users who feel the built-in tools fall short.
Microsoft very graciously sent Plummer the source code to XP Task Manager along with permission to share or demo it. The project is written in Swift and uses no original code, and Plummer says he has no post-Windows XP code to tap into, either.
Plummer is currently working on refining drive activity for Task Manager for the Mac and pondering the flickery visuals resulting from “drawing instantaneous drive activity at 60fps.”