If you are using Windows and don't know where to start then you can try Rainmete...

mmwelt · on Jan 6, 2024

Rainmeter is quite pretty, but the displays (skins) seem to only work on the desktop.

The author of the article has iStart on the menu bar, so the performance indicators are visible even when application windows are covering the desktop. The GNOME extension system-monitor-next[1], as mentioned in the article, is also similar.

Does anyone have recommendations for something similar on Windows?

[1] https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/3010/system-monitor-n...

justsomehnguy · on Jan 6, 2024

Oh, there were a ton of these utils back in the days.

I can't vouch for any of them because I don't use them, but just a quick search for "cpu utilization hdd utilization in the taskbar" shows a lot of options, eg https://entropy6.com/xmeters/

Or even running the default Task Manager so it would be only in the notification area and not in the taskbar: https://superuser.com/questions/666597/always-show-windows-c...

mmwelt · on Jan 7, 2024

XMeters used to be very good, but does not work on Windows 11.

Task Manager is very limited, unfortunately. You only get CPU usage in the notification area.

eviks · on Jan 6, 2024

You can put a skin on top of the Windows menu bar as well so that it's always visible, making the taskbarc transparent

(also I think it has a topmost option for some skin, so not only desktop)