That is then sent out through the graphics driver to the graphics card. WindowServer positions them according to their current locations on the whole display, and produces a layered composite.

Accelerated graphics commands, such as Metal code, are managed in conjuction with MTLCompilerService, the other process owned by the user _windowserver, also listed in Activity Monitor.įor example, here are two windows which are drawn by different apps. It passes that on to the graphics drivers to render in the graphics card(s), thus into the display(s). WindowServer takes each window from each running app and builds them into a layered display image. In Catalina, it’s to be found in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/amework/Resources, alongside pointer/cursor support.Īpps manage the contents of their own windows, and can generate OpenGL (now deprecated) and Metal code to take advantage of GPUs, for example.

It has moved around between different systems over the years: originally it was Quartz Compositor, then part of Core Graphics, and currently is part of SkyLight. As a key part of the GUI, it’s launched to support the login window and runs until the user logs out. WindowServer, sometimes referred to with a space as Window Server, is a group of interconnected services which handle window management, compositing of windows into the display image, and event-routing for apps.

Mac activity monitor windowserver