I have a process spy, it details every thread, process and window currently using any system resources. It also lets you know what processes are using how much of your resources, and gives you the opportunity to kill them.
Now..While you can stop any process running on your computer, most processes are necessary for the programs you are running. Some are recommended, but not required, and some are not needed at all. At any rate, can you imagine if you were to run DOS or Win 3.1 on one of these "power houses" that did not exist in the days of 80286 and 80386 systems with a whopping powerful processor speed of 24Mhz
It would seem like it was zooming...but with the programs of today, the overhead is so great, that we must push the envelope of faster technology just to make the thinks work like they are supposed to.
Imagine this..
Programs generally tell you what you need to make them run, but what they don't tell you is that if you run ANYTHING ELSE, that those resources cannot be counted toward the optimal performance levels indicated by the program.
For example, if you have 2 programs that require 64Megs of ram and you have 64 installed, if you run both programs simultaneously, the system will come to a screeching halt, so we install 128 just to keep up...
It is a never ending battle...
One day we will have a terrahertz processor and wonder how we ever made do with the slow 2Ghz processors. You will probably be required to have a Terrabyte of memory and the hard drive will hold close to 40Terrabytes, and you will STILL run out of space on your drive....
It is insanity I tell you!!!!!
Oh.... what a rant huh...