[e250]

Ive just switched from PC to mac (pb 15 rev. C). I don't know why, but osx works quite slow, e.x. all windows are freeezing a bit when moving, and they are getting slow, when im resizing them... Even dock is slow, when magnified.. I can't watch avi file, type something in word and have 4 windows open at one time, because it becomes bloody slow. Should THIS work like that?!?!!?! Its getting pretty annoying to use SUCH notebook... What should I do? I have 1.5Gb Ram though....

My PC runs 1000 times faster, but it only has 1024Mb Ram....

[Randman]

Can you give more details? Setup, apps, tweaks, etc.

First, I'd check to make sure the ram isn't faulty.

Second, I'd back up and do a clean re-install of the OS.

[f1000]

In addition, run the Hardware Test from your install disk.

[urrl78]

You should let us know what if anything you have done in the way of maintenance. This puts us in a postition of having to list things you have maybe already done.

Repair permissions thru disk utility from a CD or exterior hard drive; not from the internal hard drive.

Zapping PRAM up to 5 times in a row helped my 17" pick up speed in opening applications.

Using ONYX

Using Diskwarrior

You have not stated if you are deleting files much larger than 20 MB like I do; in that case you may elect to defragment (optimize) the hard drive using Techtool Pro.

If you feel your Powerbook was slower than your PC from the get go then perhaps you should stick with PC world. We all balance the virtues of our systems and some have speed as a major criteria. Some of the deciding factors of my criteria (reguarding laptops) is dependability, size and weight form factor, never having to worry about using any antivirus software (which I never use) and firewire 800 capability. If speed is your dominant criteria I suggest you stick with PC's. Anyone here by now should be able to confirm that until the newer dual or G5 versions arrive or unless Tiger improves the interface windows will continue to give a little stutter occasionally when opening, depending on what settings, not a big deal with me. I uncheck "animate opening applications" in System Preferences/Dock and I do not normally encounter the "freezing when opening" anomaly that you do. I tend to believe that Panther's user interface is fancier and a bit more complex to say the least, than OS9, and therefore applications can be slower upon opening than the old days. Just my opinion though. This can effect windows opening and closing.

I do not argue that PC's are not faster, anyone here that feels Macs are faster in any and all applications especially in the gaming world is kidding himself, is misinformed or simply ignorant of the facts. I do not feel my 17" is slow enough to frustrate me into buying a PC and I think the majority of us here feel the same way. We have made our choice and although the G4 is not perfect, it is a reasonably quick processor for the present day, at least until the duals or portable G5 processors arrive, and for some time after, enough for me to keep my 17" for at least a couple more years. Just my 2 cents. Re-reading your post it seems that your problem is not the behavior of a normal Powerbook though. It should be quicker.

[chabig]

And do NOT install Norton on your Mac!

[Pierre B.]

Since you just switched, I hope there is no problem to reinstall the OS from scratch. Sometimes the default factory installation can go bad and show strange symptoms. The problems you are describing are certainly not the normal operation of a Powerbook.

And as previously advised, do not install anything Norton related in your Powerbook.

[pdot]

I have PowerMac G4/400 and with the exception of watching an avi using the current divx codec AND typing in word at the same time, I don't experience the lag you're speaking of. I agree with urrl78's opinions on computer speed. In comparison to my 1.8GHz Dell laptop at work, I have an overall faster experience with my Mac than at work even though the Dell runs individual apps with more snap.

[pat++]

Window resizing is known to be *VERY* slow on Mac OS X. Even on a Dual G5 2ghz, it's much slower than any PC... Hopefully 10.4 will improve this.

[TheTraveller]

It's true. Window resizing and scrolling are horrible on OS X. Other than that, though, it pretty much rocks.

[Fusion]

Are you sure you do not have Norton or some other virus scanner installed on your PB?

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by e250:
Ive just switched from PC to mac (pb 15 rev. C). I don't know why, but osx works quite slow, e.x. all windows are freeezing a bit when moving, and they are getting slow, when im resizing them... Even dock is slow, when magnified.. I can't watch avi file, type something in word and have 4 windows open at one time, because it becomes bloody slow. Should THIS work like that?!?!!?! Its getting pretty annoying to use SUCH notebook... What should I do? I have 1.5Gb Ram though....

My PC runs 1000 times faster, but it only has 1024Mb Ram....

Open activity monitor and check which application is eating up your cpu time. Maybe its word itself. The notorious spell- and grammar check can even kill a mainframe. If its getting worse with more windows open its very likely word. That has noting to do with your mac. More with badly written software of a company that you just started to get rid of.

Mac OS X appears to be slow for former windows users because the gui reacts a little bit slower (but only tenth of a second). Don't let yourself fool by the eye candy. Before you judge let your powerbook do a real job. Compare this to Windows and you will find that OS X is as fast as Windows.

Compare multitasking then. That will be the moment when you understand the advantages of Mac OS.

The dock sucks, true. Get another launcher like Launchbar or Quicksilver. This will give you a computing experience that windows can never give you.

And avi: get video lan client. Its free and shows you everything.

[betsbillabong]

Hang on a second. it's true that the GUI can be a bit slow, but this sounds like he's having a major problem. I have a new powerbook with less ram than that and I don't have any windows freezing or dock stalling (as I did with my old G3 600, love it as I did).

Did you get your machine within the last 90 days? If so, call Apple at 800-APL-CARE and talk with them about it. What you're experiencing is unacceptable.

If not, check out the Mac OS X Speed FAQ.

If you can't figure anything out easily, you may want to call them anyhow, as it could be a hardware issue. Also, I'd recommend getting Applecare, as laptops are notoriously both prone to damage and expensive to repair.

Good luck. Don't worry, there is definitely something wrong with your system and when it's fixed your powerbook will feel much much faster.

Edit: Also, you can use Quicktime to watch AVI's; I do it all the time because my digital camera captures movies as avi.

[Sophus]

Originally posted by e250:
Ive just switched from PC to mac (pb 15 rev. C). I don't know why, but osx works quite slow, e.x. all windows are freeezing a bit when moving, and they are getting slow, when im resizing them... Even dock is slow, when magnified.. I can't watch avi file, type something in word and have 4 windows open at one time, because it becomes bloody slow. Should THIS work like that?!?!!?! Its getting pretty annoying to use SUCH notebook... What should I do? I have 1.5Gb Ram though....

My PC runs 1000 times faster, but it only has 1024Mb Ram....

Another tips: Turn off "Live Word Count" in Word. It is mostly useless and eats an insane amount of CPU. You can count your words from the menu when needed.

Otherwise, I have the same PB, but with 80GB 5400 and 128 VRAM. Everything is fast and smooth. Never experienced any stutters. Though windows resize is slower than XP, it is not slow. Scrolling is fast, except a few certain pages in Safari (for some strange reason)

Run maintenance scripts, repair permissions etc as suggested.

[gbarill]

i think it might be simpler than that.
are you watching an AVI file with quicktime?
it might just be that that's the problem. run it with VLC and see if it works better...

[urrl78]

Just curious, but isn't AVI a media format designed origionally for Microsoft?

[mattyd]

What's with these "switchers" who come here, complain of problems and slow machines and then never come back?

e250.... come in, e250.