Here's a list of OS/X system processes. Strangely enough I haven't found any current or comprehensive sources for this information - at least any that is easily located. I'll be expanding the list to include additional information and eventually non-system processes as well.
| Process | Description |
|---|---|
| activitymonitord | Gathers system statistics for Activity Monitor. Located inside the Activity Monitor application bundle. |
| Airport Base Station Agent | Used when your network has an Airport base station. It will notify you when there are problems. |
| aosnotifyd | Apple Online Services (AOS) notification daemon for notifications from sync services, e.g., MobileMe notifications |
| AppleSpell.service | Checks the spelling of what you type |
| autofsd | Automatically mounts (connects to) file systems. Used to automatically connect to file systems on the network when the network changes. |
| backupd | Time Machine backup daemon. |
| bash | BASH is a command shell that comes with OS/X. It powers the command-line (Terminal) and runs scripts. There are other variants like bash and zsh. |
| blued | Bluetooth monitor. Handles Bluetooth connection requests and other Bluetooth functions. |
| configd | Maintains system configuration information. Notifies applications when configurations change. |
| coreaudiod | Used by Core Audio to manage audio devices. |
| coreservicesd | |
| cron | Runs various programs and scheduled times. Cron is used mainly to support regular system maintenance scripts. |
| cupsd | "Common UNIX Printing System" print support daemon. Handles print queues and requests. |
| cvmsServ | Part of the OpenGL (graphics) system. Possibly related to OpenCL. |
| DashboardClient | Dashboard helper. Used by the Dashboard to support widgets. |
| DirectoryService | Handles access to defined directories, LDAP, ActiveDirectory, Bonjour, etc. Also tracks information about file servers, printers, etc. |
| diskarbitrationd | Watches for file system mounts and handles who gets to access them. |
| diskimages-helper | Used when mounting and accessing disk images. |
| distnoted | Distributed notification server. |
| dynamic_pager | OS/X swap memory manager. Handles swapping memory to disk. |
| eapolclient | Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) client. Used when your wireless network uses 802.1x/EAP-FAST authentication. |
| fontd | OS/X font daemon. Makes fonts available to the system. |
| fontworker | OS/X font registration daemon. Registers and validates fonts. |
| fseventsd | Responsible for tracking file system events, e.g., file creation, file deletion. Those events are broadcast to Mac applications so they can react when files are changed while they are running. |
| hidd | Human Interface Device Daemon. Manages input devices like keyboards and mice. |
| httpd | The Apache web server. Serves up web page requests. This is active when you turn on the personal web server. |
| kernel_task | OS/X memory manager. Allocates memory from the operating system. |
| KernelEventAgent | Responsible for displaying disk full and unresponsive file server messages |
| kextd | OS/X kernel extension daemon. Handles the loading and unloading of kernel extensions (drivers). |
| krb5kdc | Kerberos 5 Key Distribution Center. Responsible for shared/distributed logins between computers. |
| launchd | OS/X process launcher. Responsible for starting up system processes and keeping them running. |
| LKDCHelper | Assists with Kerberos (single-sign-on) |
| login | Logs a user into the computer |
| loginwindow | User login session |
| mDNSResponder | Bonjour daemon. Responsible for handling bonjour network broadcasts. |
| mds | Metadata Server. Responsible for indexing files for Spotlight. |
| mdworker | Created by the Metadata server when it indexes files. |
| mdworker32 | Created by the Metadata server when it indexes files. |
| mobilemesyncclient | Synchronization with MobileMe. |
| nmbd | NetBIOS name server. Interfaces with Windows networks. |
| notifyd | Notification service used by the notify command. |
| ocspd | Online Certificate Status Protocol daemon. Used by the security framework during certificate verification. |
| pboard | Pasteboard. Handles copy and paste. |
| Quick Look Helper | Started by Quicklook. |
| quicklookd32 | Started by Quicklook. |
| securityd | Security context daemon. Handles access to keychain items. |
| sh | SH is a command shell that comes with OS/X. It powers the command-line (Terminal) and runs scripts. There are other variants like bash and zsh. |
| SubmitDiagInfo | Periodically sends diagnostic information to Apple. Only runs if the user has "opted-in" to send information. |
| syslogd | System logging daemon. Accepts system log messages and outputs them to the log. |
| SystemStarter | Old method for starting and stopping system services. Replaced by launchd. Starts up startup items. |
| SystemUIServer | Responsible for some of the OS/X user interface such as the right hand side of the menu (clock, power, etc.). |
| usbmuxd | Part of the mobile device framework |
| UserEventAgent | Loads system plugins to handle high-level events. |
| WindowServer | Part of the graphics system. |
| zsh | ZSH is a command shell that comes with OS/X. It powers the command-line (Terminal) and runs scripts. There are other variants like bash and zsh. |