Rubber Ducky

This cleverly designed and free application monitors system activities to help you troubleshoot slow performance but doesn't get into specifics. The interface is a small yet colorful animated aquarium that hovers above your system-tray clock. Themed elements indicate certain computer-related activities. For instance, water level and color represent memory usage. Fish indicate inbound and outbound network traffic, plants show hard disk activity, and bubbles stand for CPU usage. When you right click the interface, you'll see a list explaining what all of the graphical elements stand for. However, Rubber Ducky can't tell you what information is being received by your computer or identify open applications that are sucking resources, meaning you'll still need to do some sleuthing to solve system- performance issues. And aside from the ability to tweak the transparency of the interface, the program lacks in-depth customization options. Any user looking for an animated display of system activity will appreciate this freeware, especially those with some system savvy.