14 DAY TRIAL // The powerful system monitoring utility from Bjango, iStat Menus has reached version 3.17 which adds preliminary support for Mac OS X Lion, new support for 2011 MacBook Pro models, and improved stability.
With Lion just a couple of weeks away (or so it is believed), developer Bjango decided to whip iStat Menus into shape adding support for Apple’s new desktop OS based on the developer preview seeds from Cupertino - the only Lion builds available so far.
There has been no word on whether Lion has reached or is close to reaching Gold Master status, but with WWDC 2011 promising to showcase a polished version of Lion on June 6, we can expect developers to report receiving final-grade versions of Lion momentarily.
Hence Bjango’s confidence that iStat Menus will at least be compatible with Lion, though surely they will have to make a few adjustments here and there as Apple decides to add or pull something in the last minute.
For those who are not very familiar with iStat Menus, the application is one of those must-have monitoring tools or avid Mac fans who wish to know their memory or CPU usage at all times, what processes are taking their toll on the hardware, and so on.
iStat can show you how fast your Mac’s fans are spinning, and can individually track heat sensors, hard drive activity, and much more.
iStat Menus used to be free when its maintenance was handled by the original developer, but ever since Bjango took over the app and polished it up, iStat is a paid product.
There are old versions that are distributed for free, but those versions have limitations (compared to the newest builds).
On the good side, those old versions still support older iterations of Apple’s Mac OS, such as OS X 10.4 Tiger.