I have a C++ application which if run on a machine with 32MB, starts
off at about 2500-3000K. After some time it relinquishes some memory
and may run as low as 1000K. (from CTRL-ALT-DEL)

The same application, on a machine with 256MB, starts off at about
4000K and rarely relinquishes any memory; it seems the memory is less
likely to be asked for by other apps.

Is there any to control this behavior and make the memory use of the
second machine more like the first. If so, is it worthwhile to do so
or just let the system take care of this ...

EcKo