RAM Usage

[inyourface]

Hi!
I just bought my first "real" Apple device (apart from my iPhone): A Retina MacBook Pro (late '13).
Coming from Windows it's kinda of a rough switch. But I really like it so far. And with our best friend, google, I could help myself with every little problem so far.
To one question I just couln't find a satisfying answer. But I'm sure someone in this forum can help me out...
As the title states, it's about the RAM usage. I attached a screenshot where you can see the Activity Monitor while no program is opened. So my question is quite simple: why is OS X currently using so much RAM? I can't believe it's just because of the background processes...
So maybe someone could give me a short summary on how OS X handles memory.. or might there even be a problem?

Thanks for any advice!

PS: since I am new to this world, any useful tips (on whatever) will be very welcome

 

[Jeff Flowerday]

That's the way it is, it uses all the ram it can for various things, like file cache.

It's not an indication that you need more ram, the memory pressure is the indicator you should watch. Swap usage as well. From your screen shot, your system is running perfectly.

 

[Weaselboy]

Jeff is right on target OP. Mavericks will try to take advantage of available memory by caching to speed things up. Good article on it here.

Lot's of good info on switching from Windows and OS X in general on this page from Apple.