Command-tab issue

I'm not sure if it's a feature, but sometimes I press Command+Tab and only the icons for apps in that space show. If I let go and try it again, I get the whole list of apps open system-wide.
I've done some searching but can't find any answers. I sthis a feature?

guitar4542 - My question wasn't how to get the app switcher up, thanks.
Carolyn - I can't see anything in there for switching with command-tab at all. The basic feature I know, but this whole switching between apps that are only in that space is something that seems to be new, since Leopard has Spaces and previous releases of OS X didn't.

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    0xffffff80f172b890 : 0xffffff7f824292a9
    0xffffff80f172b9e0 : 0xffffff7f823f4768
    0xffffff80f172ba10 : 0xffffff7f824235ef
    0xffffff80f172ba30 : 0xffffff7f823f7e58
    0xffffff80f172bb60 : 0xffffff7f823f4efc
    0xffffff80f172bbc0 : 0xffffff800065517e
    0xffffff80f172bbe0 : 0xffffff8000655a5a
    0xffffff80f172bc40 : 0xffffff80006561fb
    0xffffff80f172bd80 : 0xffffff80002a3ef8
    0xffffff80f172be80 : 0xffffff8000223096
    0xffffff80f172beb0 : 0xffffff80002148a9
    0xffffff80f172bf10 : 0xffffff800021bbd8
    0xffffff80f172bf70 : 0xffffff80002aef10
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    com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver    1.2.2
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    com.apple.driver.AppleMuxControl    3.1.20
    com.apple.driver.AppleLPC    1.5.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl    1.0.28
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    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferCapri    7.2.0
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    com.apple.driver.AppleIRController    312
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard    227.4.2
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    com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib    1.0.0d1
    com.apple.BootCache    33
    com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient    3.2.0
    com.apple.driver.XsanFilter    404
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI    2.0.3
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    com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI    4.8.9
    com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331    530.4.18
    com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC    1.2.0
    com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet    3.1.2b2
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub    5.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM    1.5.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort    2.3.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI    5.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBXHCI    1.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager    161.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons    1.5
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    com.apple.driver.AppleHPET    1.6
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS    1.8
    com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC    1.5
    com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC    1.5
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    com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall    3.2.30
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    com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib    2.2.0f3
    com.apple.iokit.IOSurface    80.0.2
    com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily    10.0.5
    com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily    1.8.6fc16
    com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib    1.3
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP    2.2.4
    com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController    2.2.0f3
    com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily    2.2.0f3
    com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl    3.1.20
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI    1.0.10d0
    com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert    1.0.3
    com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin    5.1.0d16
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMC    3.1.3d7
    com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily    5.1.0d17
    com.apple.nvidia.nvGK100hal    7.2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController    1.0.10d0
    com.apple.NVDAResman    7.2.0
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    com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily    2.3.4
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController    4.0.4f15
    com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily    4.0.4f15
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter    1.8.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily    1.8.1
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter    1.2.4
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch    230.3.3
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver    5.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub    5.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite    5.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice    3.2.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily    1.6
    com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily    1.7
    com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily    1.7
    com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily    3.2.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI    1.5.5
    com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily    2.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily    4.4.5
    com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family    420.3
    com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController    1.0.1b1
    com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily    2.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient    5.0.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily    2.0.8
    com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily    5.0.0
    com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime    1.5.0
    com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily    1.7.1
    com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily    1.1
    com.apple.security.sandbox    177.3
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    com.apple.driver.DiskImages    331.3
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    com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily    2.6.8
    com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily    1.4
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    * It happens only when I hit cmd-tab
    * This same laptop was earlier used by a colleague; he never had the problem. This would indicate a software issue. The pieces of software I run that are different from his are most likely Quicksilver, Skype, and Firefox, and possibly some Dashboard widgets. I haven't been able to eliminate any of these.
    * Typical pattern of use: the laptop is almost always on; it sleeps only when I travel. I typically restart the laptop only after an update that requires it.
    Equipment:
    * Here's the basic hardware overview:
    Machine Name: MacBook Pro 15"
    Machine Model: MacBookPro1,1
    Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
    Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores: 2
    L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
    Memory: 2 GB
    Bus Speed: 667 MHz
    Boot ROM Version: MBP11.0055.B08
    SMC Version: 1.2f10
    Serial Number: SystemSerialNumb
    Sudden Motion Sensor:
    State: Enabled
    (Note: this same phenomenon occurred on my previous PowerBook 15")
    * For good measure, I'll list the processes running now (and typically). (Ouch, this is going to be long. I wish this forum supported attachments.)
    <pre>
    USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND
    --- 2893 59.9 -12.1 696772 252732 ?? R 12:02PM 91:00.99 /Users/---/Applications/FireFox/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -psn032374785
    --- 245 33.6 -1.4 411868 28940 ?? S Mon03PM 3:48.77 /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder -psn01048577
    --- 2586 7.1 -1.4 394812 29020 ?? S Tue08PM 0:33.42 /Users/---/Applications/Quicksilver.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicksilver -psn022544385
    root 163 3.6 -0.4 51620 7388 ?? Rs Mon03PM 0:13.26 /System/Library/CoreServices/coreservicesd
    --- 2166 3.3 -1.2 399220 24652 ?? S Tue09AM 6:54.49 /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/MacOS/Terminal -psn015073281
    windowse 159 2.6 -5.6 489612 118312 ?? Ss Mon03PM 56:17.79 /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/CoreGraphic s.framework/Resources/Win
    root 150 2.5 -0.0 27676 900 ?? Rs Mon03PM 0:06.62 /usr/sbin/distnoted
    --- 3279 2.1 -0.5 380192 10256 ?? S 12:48AM 6:48.90 /Applications/VPNClient.app/Contents/MacOS/VPNClient
    --- 2192 0.5 -0.1 28424 1052 p4 Ss Tue09AM 0:00.10 -zsh
    root 136 0.0 -0.1 30432 1904 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:11.83 /usr/sbin/configd
    root 137 0.0 -0.1 32664 1492 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:01.30 /usr/sbin/coreaudiod
    root 138 0.0 -0.1 27804 1112 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:01.48 /usr/sbin/diskarbitrationd
    root 139 0.0 -0.0 28420 504 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.09 /usr/sbin/memberd -x
    root 140 0.0 -0.1 29268 1356 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:01.08 /usr/sbin/securityd
    root 143 0.0 -0.0 27864 468 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:01.47 /usr/sbin/notifyd
    root 147 0.0 -0.1 30744 1356 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:01.56 /usr/sbin/DirectoryService
    root 148 0.0 -0.0 27252 296 ?? Ss Mon03PM 4:57.95 /usr/sbin/update
    root 160 0.0 -0.1 37988 1112 ?? S Mon03PM 0:00.65 /usr/sbin/blued
    root 196 0.0 -0.0 27768 188 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.01 /usr/libexec/crashreporterd
    --- 197 0.0 -0.4 105536 8100 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:15.23 /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/ATS.framewo rk/Support/ATSServer
    root 216 0.0 -0.3 47728 5928 ?? Ss Mon03PM 3:52.01 /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Versions/A/Support/mds
    --- 219 0.0 -0.4 374268 7352 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:44.87 /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow console
    --- 233 0.0 -0.1 349004 1556 ?? S Mon03PM 0:01.50 /Library/StartupItems/Tablet/TabletDriver.app/Contents/MacOS/TabletDriver -psn0655361
    --- 234 0.0 -0.0 55644 600 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.46 /System/Library/CoreServices/pbs
    --- 243 0.0 -0.5 352240 10380 ?? S Mon03PM 12:49.93 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/MacOS/Dock -psn0786433
    --- 244 0.0 -0.4 372044 8520 ?? S Mon03PM 0:37.95 /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/Contents/MacOS/SystemUIServer -psn0917505
    --- 250 0.0 -0.1 357596 2408 ?? S Mon03PM 2:04.88 /System/Library/PreferencePanes/UniversalAccessPref.prefPane/Contents/Resources /UniversalAccess.app/Cont
    --- 252 0.0 -0.1 346508 1084 ?? S Mon03PM 0:00.77 /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/iTu nesHelper -psn01572865
    --- 254 0.0 -0.1 356276 2172 ?? S Mon03PM 0:01.84 /Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/iCalAlarmScheduler.app/Contents/MacOS /iCalAlarmScheduler -psn_
    root 285 0.0 -0.0 27736 308 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:15.38 ntpd -f /var/run/ntp.drift -p /var/run/ntpd.pid
    root 300 0.0 -0.0 29312 60 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.00 nfsiod -n 4
    root 309 0.0 -0.0 27312 64 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.00 rpc.lockd -w
    root 312 0.0 -0.0 29720 512 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.14 /usr/sbin/automount -f -m /Network -nsl -mnt /private/var/automount
    root 316 0.0 -0.0 29424 408 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.05 /usr/sbin/automount -f -m /automount/Servers -fstab -mnt /private/Network/Servers -m /automount/static -
    --- 321 0.0 -14.6 792572 305756 ?? S Mon03PM 31:44.65 /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari -psn02359297
    --- 456 0.0 -0.7 387432 14464 ?? S Mon06PM 1:14.29 /Users/---/Applications/TextWrangler.app/Contents/MacOS/TextWrangler -psn04456449
    --- 2020 0.0 -1.4 396932 29328 ?? S Tue12AM 0:25.70 /Applications/iCal.app/Contents/MacOS/iCal -psn010485761
    --- 2168 0.0 -0.0 28424 1008 p1 Ss Tue09AM 0:00.12 -zsh
    --- 2173 0.0 -0.0 28424 1004 p2 Ss Tue09AM 0:00.09 -zsh
    --- 2182 0.0 -0.1 28424 1152 p3 Ss+ Tue09AM 0:00.53 -zsh
    root 2201 0.0 -0.0 27576 460 p5 Ss Tue09AM 0:00.03 login -pf ---
    root 2216 0.0 -0.0 27576 448 p6 Ss Tue09AM 0:00.03 login -pf ---
    --- 2231 0.0 -0.1 28424 1124 p6 S+ Tue09AM 0:00.12 -zsh
    --- 2232 0.0 -0.1 28424 1324 p5 S+ Tue09AM 0:00.18 -zsh
    --- 2262 0.0 -0.4 362740 9184 ?? S Tue09AM 0:02.03 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2263 0.0 -0.4 372568 9044 ?? S Tue09AM 0:01.55 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2264 0.0 -0.6 388124 12008 ?? S Tue09AM 0:05.49 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2265 0.0 -0.6 363980 12856 ?? S Tue09AM 0:02.87 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2266 0.0 -0.4 361260 8488 ?? S Tue09AM 0:01.62 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2267 0.0 -0.6 364128 12968 ?? S Tue09AM 0:03.08 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2268 0.0 -0.5 361944 10708 ?? S Tue09AM 0:02.08 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2269 0.0 -0.8 393596 17616 ?? S Tue09AM 0:23.96 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2270 0.0 -0.4 362720 8844 ?? S Tue09AM 0:09.56 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2271 0.0 -1.7 392208 34792 ?? S Tue09AM 0:09.52 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2272 0.0 -0.4 362720 8916 ?? S Tue09AM 0:09.55 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    --- 2273 0.0 -0.4 362752 8916 ?? S Tue09AM 0:09.35 /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/DashboardClient.app/Co ntents/MacOS/DashboardCli
    root 2425 0.0 -0.1 28536 1600 ?? Ss Tue03PM 0:01.48 /usr/sbin/cupsd -f
    --- 2845 0.0 -0.1 346332 1760 ?? S Wed11AM 0:43.11 /Users/---/Development/eclipse/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS/eclipse -psn030801921
    --- 2846 0.0 -11.4 875832 239884 ?? S Wed11AM 11:40.63 /Users/---/Development/eclipse/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS/eclipse -Xdock:icon=../Resources/Eclipse.icns
    --- 2855 0.0 -0.1 38264 1652 ?? S Wed11AM 0:00.14 /System/Library/Services/AppleSpell.service/Contents/MacOS/AppleSpell -psn031588353
    --- 2898 0.0 -2.2 418588 45832 ?? S 12:20PM 1:29.46 /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail -psn032636929
    root 3280 0.0 -0.0 29368 988 ?? Ss 12:48AM 0:02.74 cvpnd
    nobody 3281 0.0 -0.1 28944 1080 ?? S 12:48AM 0:40.68 cvpnd
    --- 3289 0.0 -2.1 460440 43468 ?? S 12:53AM 3:10.38 /Users/---/Applications/Skype/Skype.app/Contents/MacOS/Skype -psn040370177
    root 3356 0.0 -0.1 29204 1368 ?? Ss 8:44AM 0:01.52 /usr/sbin/lookupd
    --- 3369 0.0 -0.1 28016 1392 p1 S+ 8:48AM 0:00.87 ssh xxx
    --- 3370 0.0 -0.1 28016 1392 p2 S+ 8:48AM 0:00.17 ssh xxx
    --- 3533 0.0 -0.4 367264 8300 ?? S 11:43AM 0:00.67 /Applications/Utilities/System Profiler.app/Contents/MacOS/System Profiler -psn045481985
    --- 3537 0.0 -0.2 40388 3332 ?? SNs 11:44AM 0:00.24 /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Versions/A/Support/mdimp
    root 3541 0.0 -0.0 27412 524 p4 R+ 11:46AM 0:00.01 ps axu
    root 1 0.0 -0.0 28356 488 ?? S<s Mon03PM 0:02.08 /sbin/launchd
    root 23 0.0 -0.0 27268 128 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.01 /sbin/dynamic_pager -F /private/var/vm/swapfile
    root 27 0.0 -0.1 31764 1560 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:04.48 kextd
    root 130 0.0 -0.0 27824 224 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.03 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DedicatedNetworkBuilds.framework/Resources/bf observer
    root 131 0.0 -0.0 27844 272 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.04 /usr/sbin/KernelEventAgent
    root 132 0.0 -0.0 31660 928 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:05.96 /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder -launchdaemon
    root 133 0.0 -0.0 27580 632 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:04.61 /usr/sbin/netinfod -s local
    root 134 0.0 -0.0 27288 356 ?? Ss Mon03PM 0:00.67 /usr/sbin/syslogd
    </pre>
    So, the question...
    ...has anyone else ever encountered this, and is there a fix?
    MacBook Pro   Mac OS X (10.4.9)

    Hi ebudan, to me it looks like you've run out of RAM and had a lot of stuff swapped out by the OS (I'm guessing this based on your Firefox process having bloated to 250MB, your Safari to 300MB, and your Eclipse to somewhere over 200MB). Cmd-Tabbing in such a situation would then begin swapping pages back in from disk, which ties up all your disk IO; hence, the system becomes unresponsive answering disk IO requests but no process appears to be using up CPU time.
    If you waited long enough, the system may become responsive enough for you to close an application or two, at which point you'd probably begin to see things return to normal.
    One solution may be to add more RAM, although I suspect if you closed your browsers and re-opened them now and again (or simply opened fewer windows/tabs) you'd avoid this problem too.

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