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cowicide · 11:15 PM

[NOTE: Unless you have actually tried this Tip AND this Tip actually applies to you.. you baffoons shouldn't vote NO. Ya' jackass jackasses]

Moderator, please change all "No" answers to a "Yes"... Thank You.

Why OS X is getting slower over time.

COW TIP

FOR OS X SPEED

Would you like to be snappy, happy and not so nappy?

- Have you tried everything, but OS X just doesn't seem as snappy as it used to be?
- Have you fixed permissions, only to permit further sluggishness?
- Are you at the end of your rope after running DiskWarrior and everything else in the book to try speed up OS X to no avail?
- Have you religiously followed macattorney.com and macnn.com threads on how to increase speed but still move like a slug?

Well.... your frustrations are over! Cowicide your Desktop!

You see, as you gradually put more and more icons (for ex., cool cow picts), files and folders on your OS X Desktop...
OS X may get progressively slower and slower!

Don't believe me? Do this...

Take the majority of your files, folders, etc. OFF of your Desktop and put them all inside a folder on your hard drive.

See the MASSIVE speed difference? NOTE: The speed difference will depend on how many icons you had on your desktop and amount of VRAM you got.

^_^

For now on, just put a few aliases (maybe between 15-20 or so) on your Desktop and keep your OS X machine lean and mean. Remember, as you gradually add more and more junk on your Desktop... OS X may get more and more sluggish again. Moove that stuff out of there!

Let me know if this helps anyone increase OS X speed and makes them snappy, happy and not so nappy.

With my VRAM, I get away with about 70-100 on the desktops (2 monitors) without eventual slowdowns.

ACT NOW and get a bonus, real gold cow medallion at no extra cost! (prohibited where prohibited)

Udder Thread

tikki · Jun 10, 2003, 11:56 AM

...

Hi I'm Ben · Jun 10, 2003, 11:59 AM

i had 4 icons on my desktop =/

always.

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 12:07 PM

> i had 4 icons on my desktop always. =/

Well, then...

1. Put a sh**load of files on your desktop
2. Take them off
3. Compare speeds over time
4. Then vote!

Haha...

Xeo · Jun 10, 2003, 12:10 PM

I had 103 icons on my Desktop. I don't know if it's any faster, but this thread did remind me it was about time to do that.

SMacTech · Jun 10, 2003, 12:30 PM

I must be doing something right then, I don't have a single icon on my desktop. No wonder it is always snappy? on my lowly cube.

jszrules · Jun 10, 2003, 12:56 PM

cowicide's post describes my situation very well. OS X has been experiencing increased sluggishness and I have not considered the number of files on my desktop (which has also been increasing) as a possible cause. When I get home, I will try the Cow Tip and hopefully my vote will be a yes!

spiznet · Jun 10, 2003, 01:22 PM

Is it really going to make a difference whether there are alias icons or file/program icons on the desktop- they are still icons. What is the improvement caused by, if not for the sake of the OS not having to redraw the icons.

If this works, just put all your desktop items in one folder, and put *that* on the dock. Also, what about desktop pictures tiled or filling screen. Any difference??

...
You see, as you gradually put more and more icons (for ex., cool cow picts), files and folders on your OS X Desktop...
OS X may get progressively slower and slower!
...
For now on, just put a few aliases (maybe between 15-20 or so) on your Desktop and keep your OS X machine lean and mean. Remember, as you gradually add more and more junk on your Desktop... OS X may get more and more sluggish again. Moove that stuff out of there!

chris v · Jun 10, 2003, 01:34 PM

55 icons on my desktop. Snapping� right along.

CV

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 01:47 PM

RE: spiznet

> Is it really going to make a difference whether there are alias icons or file/program icons on the desktop

I'm not sure. But, I imagine there is less data to sort through/process if there are tiny (file sized) aliases instead of actual files, folder, etc. crammed on your Desktop.

> If this works...

I've tested this on 4 different systems and also other people have. IT DOES WORK. If you have something else slowing down your system (like USB stuff, etc.) then it may not be as dramatic. If you already didn't have a bunch of icons on your desktop or have lots of video RAM, etc., etc. This may not work for YOU as dramatically, either. All in all, I think this will help a bunch of people who don't have a bunch of video RAM or fast video cards, etc.

I think the people voting NO without trying this or needing to (no icons on desktop, video card with tons of VRAM, etc.) are doing a disservice to the many people who could benefit from this Tip. The same type people who would push the blender button at the "goldfish in a blender" art exhibit, I suppose.

> just put all your desktop items in one folder, and put *that* on the dock.

Yep... you could do that if you wanted to... You should also mention that you can click-n-hold (and release if you wish) on the folder and that makes the dock work similiar to the way Finderpop from OS 9 did.

> what about desktop pictures tiled or filling screen. Any difference??

I have "herd" on macfixit.com that altering desktop pictures can make things punchier... but I doubt as dramatic as what some people will see when they do this Cow Tip. Once again, I think it depends on your setup...

::maroma:: · Jun 10, 2003, 01:49 PM

Whether or not this is true, I don't know. But the IT guys here at work seem to think the same about OS 9. They continually tell me to clean my desktop in order to see marked speed improvement. I did, and I really didn't notice anything.

Now, at home I have OS X, and I keep my desktop completely clear. No icons or files whatsoever. So I can't speak to OS X. And I'm not going to load my screen up with billions of icons just to test.

Developer · Jun 10, 2003, 01:56 PM

Each icon on the desktop is a window, so this might have some influence if you have relly lots of them.

[APi]TheMan · Jun 10, 2003, 02:01 PM

I only have 4 icons on my desktop: Two internal hard drives, one external FireWire drive, and a downloads folder.

I like my desktop clean. Throwing stuff in folders is kinda like stuffing junk in drawers in your room. I just use folders to keep organized. Folders and folders and folders. Like little cubbies inside cubbies.

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 02:02 PM

This Cow Tip IS true.... also, this is a totally different experience than taking icons off in OS 9. Actually, you may not have even noticed too much of a speed difference with OS 9...

With OS X, you'll see a DRAMATIC speed increase. (Especially if you don't have a ton of VRAM and you've progressively built up icons on the Desktop over time)

I wouldn't "steer" these people wrong, man.

> And I'm not going to load my screen up with billions of icons just to test.

You mean when I said earlier "1. Put a sh**load of files on your desktop"... That was a joke... If you don't have a bunch of stuff on your Desktop this Tip isn't for you. Mooving on..

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 02:09 PM

chris v

> 55 icons on my desktop. Snapping� right along.

I have about 60 and I'm Snapping� right along too.... But, I have a bunch of VRAM, etc.... Put about 200 on multiple monitors and use it for a little while and you'll see what I'm talking about very quickly.

I'm also still thinking file size may enter into this too with big (file size) Folders (filled), .sit files, applications, etc. etc... sitting on the Desktop.

fireside · Jun 10, 2003, 02:27 PM

am i the only one that finds it funny that he keeps making cow-like noises in his posts? "mooving" "herd"

MacNStein · Jun 10, 2003, 02:31 PM

I have one icon on my desktop... I never have more than one icon on my desktop, unless I DL some crap and am sorting through it. When done sorting, I delete everything that's left. Then again, I only have one icon on my desktop.

Simple.

MartiNZ · Jun 10, 2003, 02:47 PM

Same here - just one super-sized icon for the hard drive on my iBook. Only more than that if I download to desktop from Software Update - if it could download to downloads directory there would be no other icon.

Hmm, just wondering, do you think the icon size would make a difference as well with this tip (not that I need it

)?

Cipher13 · Jun 10, 2003, 04:49 PM

4 hard drive icons on my desktop.
One optical drive icon.
One Toast document.

I've found iTunes to cause major slowdowns in normal use...

philzilla · Jun 10, 2003, 04:56 PM

my iBook goes really fast, when i throw it like a frisbee

SMacTech · Jun 10, 2003, 05:10 PM

Originally posted by Cipher13:
4 hard drive icons on my desktop.
One optical drive icon.
One Toast document.

I've found iTunes to cause major slowdowns in normal use...

Still having that iTunes slowdown, eh? That's a shame Ciph. I can suppose with low RAM conditions the Desktop window could be purged and cause a rebuild of the buffer to occur when it needs refreshed. I also think that is one of the main reasons why the Finder is slow to update new files on the Desktop, under low RAM <VRAM> conditions. YMMV.
No icons on the desktop here, but lots everywhere else.
It may very well be the VRAM available that is causing the problem.
OT : Now if they would only fix the contextual menu in the Finder where it pauses to calculate what possible apps can open the doc you clicked on. Now that really bothers me.

Deicide · Jun 10, 2003, 05:23 PM

Cow's Tip does work but it all depends on how much VRAM and items on the desktop you have. Each Icon on the desktop takes up video ram to draw it to the screen. It is kinda like a layer in photoshop. MacOS X has to keep track of any changes to an icon and to make the change fast it has to be in vram. an easy way to make a MacOS X box useless is to throw a couple of thousand items on the desktop. MacOS X will use up all the VRAM drawing and updating the desktop. Evenually it will run out of VRAM, real memory and virtual memory. The same goes for open windows to.

King Bob On The Cob · Jun 10, 2003, 06:58 PM

Originally posted by Deicide:
The same goes for open windows to.

Open Windows = Icons. Since Jaguar Icons have been considered Windows. Check it in that app in your Developer folder that looks like a piece of Quartz. You'll find a listing of your icons (plus a huge number of off the screen windows that do stuff that I don't know.)

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 08:17 PM

RE: Deicide (As in the devil metal band?)

> Cow's Tip does work but it all depends on how
> much VRAM and items on the desktop you have.

Yep, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

I think it's hilarious how so many people are coming on here and bragging that they "don't have hardly any icons on their desktop anyway". So minimalist... so kewl.... so iconlessistic, man... each and every one of them... ahead of their time... har! har!

*Tsssst!* They are hot! Haha!

SMacTech · 09:14 PM

Originally posted by cowicide:
I think it's hilarious how so many people are coming on here and bragging that they "don't have hardly any icons on their desktop anyway".

Who was bragging? I use it as my 'temp' folder. It's only a matter of preference that I do it, not brag about it.
It is, however, good info for those who like to use the desktop as their repository for whatever. I did not know it caused such a slowdown or that VRAM was a factor. It does make a lot of sense though.
OS X loves RAM.
Who could manage a couple thousand items on the desktop as you suggest?

Deicide · Jun 10, 2003, 09:46 PM

SMacTech:

I have a couple of users under MacOS 9 that save everything to their desktop. It is so bad that the Macintosh HD icon is under atleast 20 other icons! I could never understand how they can work like that. They use find all day long i guess.

Anyone can see the downside of such a windowing system as quartz quite easy. With your normal working apps open just hit command+N in the finder about 50 to 100 times. It will hang any mac after it starts using the disk to swap.

cowicide:

yes, Deicide is the only heavy metal band I like.

cowicide · Jun 10, 2003, 11:01 PM

> Who was bragging?

YOU were, MY FRIEND... YOU were...

I was just teasing... it was a load of manure. (it still was kinda' funny, I think)

> Who could manage a couple thousand
> items on the desktop as you suggest

Ah, you tease back, grasshoppa...

cowicide · 11:24 PM

> anyone can see the downside of such a
> windowing system as quartz

Why did Apple use it? Was is quicker to dev with the UNIX underpinnings or something? Maybe Panther will be different? Just curious...

> yes, Deicide is the only heavy metal
> band I like.

I remember seeing someone wearing the tee-shirt at an amusement park many years ago. I got the impression the tee-shirt implied I should "deicide" between God or Satan.

Was that their deal? Did I get the wrong idea, there? BTW, I'm NOT trying to turn this into a religion thread (so nobody get any hard*ns for Jesus or Satan and start posting religious crap, please). Just a simple, innocent question... from....

A Sacred Fricken' Cow!!!!! Howl!!!!!!

symonsl · Jun 10, 2003, 11:56 PM

I have a pismo 400 with the 8meg ATI video card. I have 54 items on my desktop. Throwing 51 of them into a folder had no noticeable effect.

cowicide · Jun 11, 2003, 12:10 AM

RE:symonsl

Yeah, you should be humming along nicely if you only have 54... you might start slowing down after you get to around 130+ or more? Who knows? Thank you for posting your info!

This may have something to do with AGP (or mixed/lack of AGP) cards too, I'm not sure...

I've only seen this help people that had a sluggish system and had tons of items on their Desktops esp. (some with multiple monitors, etc.) When it works, it IS dramatic. The Dock Magnification responds much, much snappier as you run along it, for ex. and the Finder menus pop up faster, etc. Actually, the entire OS responsivness reallys start to cook (comparatively).

I'm glad to see this has helped roughly 16% of the poll takers so far!

In the end, this Cow Tip will help a bunch of people and that's enough for me.

Michael_Jackson · Jun 11, 2003, 12:20 AM

Is Cowicide insane? Why would anyone feel compelled to make so many bovine allusions when discussing Mac OS X?

cowicide · Jun 11, 2003, 12:29 AM

Michael Jackson: "Is Cowicide insane? Why would anyone feel compelled to make so many bovine allusions when discussing Mac OS X?"

What else is a Cow to do?

[cow moo-nwalks back into the barn and chews some hay]

Cipher13 · Jun 11, 2003, 04:46 AM

Originally posted by SMacTech:
Still having that iTunes slowdown, eh? That's a shame Ciph. I can suppose with low RAM conditions the Desktop window could be purged and cause a rebuild of the buffer to occur when it needs refreshed. I also think that is one of the main reasons why the Finder is slow to update new files on the Desktop, under low RAM <VRAM> conditions. YMMV.
No icons on the desktop here, but lots everywhere else.
It may very well be the VRAM available that is causing the problem.
OT : Now if they would only fix the contextual menu in the Finder where it pauses to calculate what possible apps can open the doc you clicked on. Now that really bothers me.

Yeah, I don't get it. Even when iTunes isn't playing.

Can't be low mem - I have 704 megs.

Appleman · Jun 11, 2003, 09:08 AM

Originally posted by philzilla:
my iBook goes really fast, when i throw it like a frisbee

jszrules · Jun 11, 2003, 10:14 AM

cowicide, I tried your tip and cleaned up my Desktop, but haven't experienced any noticeable changes. However, I do tend to keep a lot of Finder windows open and/or minimized in the Dock simultaneously. Do you think that closing lots of these windows will produce the same results your Cow Tip is supposed to have? (I am not on that computer right now, so I can't try it out at this time.) Thanks.

Nonsuch · Jun 11, 2003, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
Whether or not this is true, I don't know. But the IT guys here at work seem to think the same about OS 9. They continually tell me to clean my desktop in order to see marked speed improvement. I did, and I really didn't notice anything.

They probably say that to all their users to try to help them be more productive. My boss, who knows very little about the TiBook he uses or the OS (9) running on it, has about 40-50 folders and documents on his Cinema Display desktop, and it kills me to watch him constantly struggle to find a file he needs. (The fact that he windowshades everything instead of hiding applications doesn't help.) I'm at the point where I want to sit him down for an hour and explain, "OK, this is called a pop-up folder; now watch carefully ...".

/off-topic

iNeusch · Jun 11, 2003, 10:53 AM

I have no file on my desktop...
But changing the internal 40Gb of my Ti for a 60Gb @ 5400 rpm did increase speed

Appleman · Jun 11, 2003, 11:10 AM

No files on my desktop :-)

cowicide · Jun 11, 2003, 11:54 AM

RE: jszrules

> Do you think that closing lots of these windows will produce
> the same results your Cow Tip is supposed to have?

I have herd that it will help. But from the sound of your Cow Tip test, you probably have enough VRAM to cover your bases anyway. Personally, I have had a bunch of windows open (and windowshaded with Unsanity's thing) and experienced sluggish performance until I closed some. YMMV.

As far as removing the Desktop items for speed. I think it depends on your number of items / VRAM ratio. I'm still wondering if AGP and multiple monitors are a big factor, but I'm not sure. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

tikki · Jun 11, 2003, 12:10 PM

Originally posted by cowicide:
RE: jszrules

> Do you think that closing lots of these windows will produce
> the same results your Cow Tip is supposed to have?

I have herd....

Wow, that was funny to me

jszrules · Jun 11, 2003, 12:38 PM

Originally posted by tikki:
Wow, that was funny to me

so fireside is not the only one!

Originally posted by fireside:
am i the only one that finds it funny that he keeps making cow-like noises in his posts? "mooving" "herd"

dfiler · Jun 11, 2003, 03:39 PM

Icons on the desktop?

That's so 20th century. Get with the times man.

Seriously, column view changed my workflow and made me forsake spatial-organization. Spatial organization was what originally made the Mac more user friendly than other systems.

<techno-weenie-babble>
I think some people will always prefer persistent, and spatially based representation of data and programs as objects inside the computer. For them, it is just easier to work with documents and programs if these files are presented in a one-to-one relationship with onscreen objects. This one to one relationship only works when there is a single view upon each folder.

Users who prefer this organization tend to store things on desktop, typically things currently being working on or yet to have been filed. The desktop is simply the most easily reached location when operating in a spatial mind-set.

Since abandoning spatial organization I no longer put anything on my desktop... ever. What slow down?

brainchild2b · Jun 11, 2003, 04:31 PM

You shouldn't have 130 icons on your desktop. Clean that crap up, didn't your parents teach you anything!

Kissargi · Jun 11, 2003, 05:02 PM

your a realy messy person if you have 130+ icons on your desktop.

cowicide · Jun 11, 2003, 06:53 PM

RE: dfiler, Icons on the desktop?

It would appear that Apple agrees with you by using this windowing system for icons on the Desktop. Maybe it's Apple's way of saying -- Don't use the Desktop (very much) !

I use the Desktop as a temporary harbor for reminders, etc. For instance, instead of doing a "to do" note telling me that I need to mess with a newly downloaded shareware application at some point, I may put an alias of it prominently on the desktop.. I'll see it later when time allows and then take a look at it and delete the alias & possibly even the application after a negative evaluation.

At times when I get overloaded with work, I collect all the icon (reminders) off the desktop and sort them into folders and give each folder a different priority, category, etc...

But overall, I agree... too many icons may be a sign of disorganization... unless they can find what they need, quickly within the apparent chaos... Unfortunately, I have met quite a few people with a bunch of crap on their Desktop who can't find a damn thing because there is no method to the madness... at all...

At the same, maybe a messy Desktop full of icons can be the calling card of a genius or two?... Many people that the world consider geniuses actually have had a messy real world desktop... maybe a virtual desktop is no different?

Will geniuses need more VRAM to handle their messy desktops? Haha! Maybe!

Just a thought....

Geobunny · Jun 11, 2003, 08:17 PM

Originally posted by Kissargi:
your a realy messy person if you have 130+ icons on your desktop.

You're also a really lucky person if you've got enough screen real-estate for 130+ icons on your desktop! .....or maybe I'm in the minority (you never get junk emails for a "magic pill to increase the size of your display" do you?!)

[Edit: For what it's worth, thanks for the tip - quite a noticeable speed increase here ]

cowicide · 02:20 AM

> Geobunny: For what it's worth, thanks for the
> tip - quite a noticeable speed increase here.

I did it all for the nookie.

cowicide · Jun 12, 2003, 02:19 AM

> You're also a really lucky person if you've
> got enough screen real-estate for 130+
> icons on your desktop!

You are a sh*thead if you have 130+ icons on your desktop.

As a matter of fact, I hate people who have 130+ icons on your desktop.

If it was up to me, I'd punch anyone in the face who had 130+ icons on your desktop.

For Christ's sake, I would damn to hell anyone who had 130+ icons on your desktop.

That's all I gotta say about this....

[cow passes out] [won't remember a thing]

Samanoske · Jun 12, 2003, 05:05 AM

have 739 Icons on my 4 Desktops - no slow down - no speed up. Maybe becoz I use the Quad 1.8Ghz G4 system ... hmmm

suprz's ghost · Jun 12, 2003, 06:16 AM

Originally posted by philzilla:
my iBook goes really fast, when i throw it like a frisbee

my ibook is as slow as shite! maybe i'll try your advice phil