System Profiler

System Information (previously known as System Profiler) is a software utility derived from field service diagnostics produced by Apple's Service Diagnostic Engineering team, at that time located in Apple satellite buildings in Campbell, California, that has been bundled with the Mac OS since Mac OS 7.6 (until OS X it was called Apple System Profiler). Sometime between 10.6.8 and 10.7.2, System Profiler had its named changed to System Information.

It compiles technical information on all of the installed hardware, devices, drivers, applications, system settings, system software programs and kernel extensions installed on the host computer. It can export this information as plain text, RTF or in the plist XML format. This information is used to diagnose problems. System Profiler can be extremely useful if attempting to diagnose a hardware problem. A user can send the information directly to Apple if the user desires. It has support for scripting automation through AppleScript and some limited support in Automator.

System information can also be accessed by using the "system_profiler" command through a Terminal application. For more information, execute man system_profiler or "system_profiler -h" in an OS X terminal application.

OS X
Versions
  • Server 1.0 "Hera"
  • Public Beta "Kodiak"
  • 10.0 "Cheetah"
  • 10.1 "Puma"
  • 10.2 "Jaguar"
  • 10.3 "Panther"
  • 10.4 "Tiger"
  • 10.5 "Leopard"
  • 10.6 "Snow Leopard"
  • 10.7 "Lion"
  • 10.8 "Mountain Lion"
Applications
  • Automator
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Chess
  • Contacts
  • Dashboard
  • Dictionary
  • DVD Player
  • FaceTime
  • Finder
  • Grapher
  • iTunes
  • Mac App Store
  • Mail
  • Messages
  • Notes
  • Notification Center
  • Photo Booth
  • Preview
  • QuickTime
  • Reminders
  • Safari
  • Stickies
  • TextEdit
Discontinued
  • Front Row
  • iChat
  • iSync
  • Sherlock
Utilities
  • Activity Monitor
  • AirPort Utility
  • Archive Utility
  • Audio MIDI Setup
  • Bluetooth File Exchange
  • ColorSync
  • Console
  • Crash Reporter
  • DigitalColor Meter
  • Directory Utility
  • DiskImageMounter
  • Disk Utility
  • Font Book
  • Grab
  • Help Viewer
  • Image Capture
  • Installer
  • Keychain Access
  • Migration Assistant
  • Network Utility
  • ODBC Administrator
  • Remote Install Mac OS X
  • Screen Sharing
  • Software Update
  • System Preferences
  • System Information
  • Terminal
  • Universal Access
  • VoiceOver
Discontinued
  • X11.app
Technology and user interface
  • AirDrop
  • Command key
  • Option key
  • Apple menu
  • Apple Push Notification Service
  • AppleScript
  • Aqua
  • Audio Units
  • Bonjour
  • Boot Camp
  • BootX
  • Brushed metal
  • Carbon
  • Cocoa
  • ColorSync
  • Core Animation
  • Core Audio
  • Core Data
  • Core Foundation
  • Core Image
  • Core OpenGL
  • Core Text
  • Core Video
  • CUPS
  • Cover Flow
  • Darwin
  • Dock
  • FileVault
  • Gatekeeper
  • Grand Central Dispatch
  • icns
  • Inkwell
  • I/O Kit
  • Kernel panic
  • Keychain
  • launchd
  • Launchpad
  • Mach-O
  • MacRuby
  • Menu extra
  • Mission Control
  • OpenCL
  • Preference Pane
  • Property list
  • Quartz
  • QuickTime
  • Quick Look
  • Smart Folders
  • Spaces
  • Speakable items
  • Spotlight
  • Stacks
  • Time Machine
  • Uniform Type Identifier
  • Universal binary
  • WebKit
  • Xgrid
  • XNU
Discontinued
  • Classic Environment
  • Rosetta
Mac OS
Applications
  • Calculator
  • Chooser
  • Drive Setup
  • DVD Player
  • Finder
  • Graphing Calculator
  • Keychain Access
  • PictureViewer
  • PowerTalk
  • QuickTime Player
  • Network Browser
  • Scrapbook
  • Sherlock
  • Software Update
  • Stickies
  • Apple System Profiler
  • SimpleText
Developer
  • MacsBug
  • Macintosh Programmer's Workshop
  • ResEdit
Technology
  • Alias
  • Apple menu
  • Balloon help
  • Bomb Error
  • Command (⌘)
  • Control Panel
  • Control Strip
  • Creator code
  • Hierarchical File System
  • HFS Plus
  • Keychain
  • Labels
  • Macintosh File System
  • Option (⌥)
  • OSType
  • PICT
  • QuickDraw
  • QuickTime
  • Resource fork
  • Special menu
  • Startup Screen
  • System Folder
  • System suitcase
  • Type code
  • WorldScript
Related articles
  • Manager
  • Toolbox
  • Memory Management
  • Old World ROM
  • New World ROM
  • EFI

Famous quotes containing the word system:

    The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.
    C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)