One feature that's been included in Apple's OS X Tiger operating system and above is Dashboard. In short, this application provides a platform to run mini-applications, or widgets, as Apple call them. If at any time you're using OS X Tiger you can press F12 and your screen will dim and your widgets will be displayed.

While many find these widgets useful it can be a resource hog on your computer and a waste of RAM usage if you're not actively using them. If you're a Mac user who doesn't benefit from Dashboard and looking to boost your system's performance then follow these simple steps.

You're going to have to get your hands dirty and open a Terminal. This might be a bit daunting for some but bare with us as this tip is very simple. Open the Terminal application which can be found in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

Now, type the following command, followed by the Return key:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

After pressing the Return key you'll need to type in this command:

killall Dock

That's it. If you press F12 Dashboard won't start up and you won't be able to access your widgets. The system will be free of unnecessary RAM usage as well. However, it hasn't gone forever and you can turn it back on just as easy. Open a Terminal screen and type the following command to get Dashboard back:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO

And again, after pressing Return you'll need to type in this command to make it take effect:

killall Dock

Once you do this Dashboard will return with any widgets you had installed previously.