kernel_task problems

Hey there, i have been noticing that there is this process called kernel_task thats been using a lot of ram, tons of virtual memory and at times lots of cpu power. From my limited knowledge it is what the computer uses to perform functions (or something like that). Is there a problem or is this normal. i am running an ibook g4 12in 1.33 with a gig ram. I also just rebooted and have just firefox running.(not counting the small things).

Any help would be greatly appreceated. I also included a screenshot of activity monitor to show what i mean.

thanx

Here is how Amit Singh described the kernel_task in his book called MAC OS X Internals.

The kernel uses a single task - the kernel task - with multiple threads that perform kernel operations such as scheduling, thread reaping, callout management, paging and Unix exception handling. Thus xnu is a monolithic kernel containing markedly different components such as Mach, BSD, and the I/O Kit, all running as gorups of threads in a single task in the same address space.

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