[xfesty]

Hiya,

I'm the proud owner of a 1.25ghz 15" Powerbook, and things are great, but OS X *still* feels sluggish, in terms of responsiveness. I've tried a few optimising programs, and prebound everything, but it still doesn't feel *quite* as snappy as I'd like.

There's things that, if changed, would make the system feel faster; things such as changing the delay for menus on the dock coming up, increasing the speed of the fancy effects such as minimising windows, etc.

Anybody know of any utilities to do this?

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by xfesty:
There's things that, if changed, would make the system feel faster; things such as changing the delay for menus on the dock coming up, increasing the speed of the fancy effects such as minimising windows, etc.

Anybody know of any utilities to do this?

Well not really but how would faster window minimising really make your computer all that faster?

Also, get more RAM if you have under 500.

[xfesty]

Have 512MB ram; anymore won't really make much difference, right?

Window minimising won't make the computer faster; that's not the issue, I think. Games run quite nicely on this, so I don't think it's a problem of the actual comptuer being slow - but it *feels* sluggish.

GUI delays do add to the 'feel' of it being sluggish; and I swap around windows a lot, open menus regulary; making all this happen faster will make the system feel snappier. I know it sounds odd, but it actually does.

I'm open for suggestions in any case; tips, tricks, applications used for making the system feel snappier and more responsive. Things really do feel laggy compared to my Windows / Gnome desktops, unfortunately (i.e. scrolling through a mozilla window lags badly, makes me feel like I'm on an ancient machine).

[wataru]

Just get used to it. Seriously. Unless there's something wrong with your system and it's actually slow, you're just nitpicking.

[Kermy]

That's the problem with OSX and Apple in general. You either conform and live by it or go to h3ll. I agree with the sluggishness issue tho. It's not "slow" it just feels a bit laggy.

[Jim_MDP]

Let's see� last night, I was running a fast bit torrent; doing some light PShop in combination with AppleWorks, text clippings and multiple graphics (CD case inserts); had preview, text edit, Safari etc open; and had iTunes streaming over AirPort to my 233 Mhz Wallstreet (it takes less CPU to stream than to actually decode and play the MP3s). Oh, and printing test pages as they were ready.

All that on my 400 Mhz Pismo with 384 MB RAM. Are you sure you still want to complain?

Was there some lag in UI when switching apps? Sure, depending on which apps. But iTunes didn't skip once. Could I have made this work on a PC with their fast but choppy window management? Don't know. I do know that not once did I think� "Uh oh, this thing might crash any second now." And of course it didn't.

OS X multitasking ROCKS.

[sodamnregistered2]

Yeah, you just got to get used to it. It took me a long time to learn to work slower.

Another thing is that you are wasting a lot of mental and physical energy messing around with the Finder.

With a dual G5/2GHz and Jaguar, I think I finally have enough raw power to make the UI bearable, but it seems like I am ALWAYS nudging windows widgets. It's like they go out of their way to piss me off.

The folder I want is below the first arrow, so I gotta scroll that down, and then the column view never seems to use any intelligence when sizing columns, so my filenames are all mangled and I have to nudge that widget to reveal my file names as indicated by the second arrow.

Basically, Apple needs to make 2 product lines. "Pro" and "Home User".

I'd love a stripped down OS X that was devoid of animations, shadows, and candy in general.

The current Jaguar is fine for the typer of Word files and browser of pornography, but when when one is working furious and making one hell of a multitasking mess, I find it VERY lacking.

I just wish Apple would lock 10 production artists in room and watch them. They would learn so much about these bottlenecks.

Yeah, the UI is still a little sluggish, much better than it was though. The UI still blows in general though.

[sodamnregistered2]

Originally posted by Jim_MDP:
I do know that not once did I think� "Uh oh, this thing might crash any second now." And of course it didn't.

OS X is pretty stable. The apps are not though. I think all my major apps have crapped on me at some point. Even Photoshop took a dump last week!

When OSX comes it will be great!
When faster hardware comes, it will be great!
When the apps are stable, it will be great!

Argh, I've been down with Apple since the IIci, so at least I'm good and jaded by now. Summer of OS 7.5.3 anyone?

[ul1984]

Originally posted by xfesty:
Have 512MB ram; anymore won't really make much difference, right?

Window minimising won't make the computer faster; that's not the issue, I think. Games run quite nicely on this, so I don't think it's a problem of the actual comptuer being slow - but it *feels* sluggish.

GUI delays do add to the 'feel' of it being sluggish; and I swap around windows a lot, open menus regulary; making all this happen faster will make the system feel snappier. I know it sounds odd, but it actually does.

I'm open for suggestions in any case; tips, tricks, applications used for making the system feel snappier and more responsive. Things really do feel laggy compared to my Windows / Gnome desktops, unfortunately (i.e. scrolling through a mozilla window lags badly, makes me feel like I'm on an ancient machine).

i have the same computer as you, and on mine scrolling is smooth, just make sure you have your processor performance at highest(my computer scrolls choppy at automatic and reduced too)

remember theres a seperate option for processor performance, for battery and AC power, so u dont have to run it on highest performance when ure on battery power.(personally i have it at highest when its on AC power, and recuded when on battery)

[eevyl]

I really think people need to get a life, one nanosecond less while minimizing a window or dropping down a menu is not going to save my work day

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by sodamnregistered2:
Yeah, you just got to get used to it. It took me a long time to learn to work slower.

I'd love a stripped down OS X that was devoid of animations, shadows, and candy in general.

You have a dual G5 and you say it feels sluggish and lacking? My god, what computer, if any, would feel fast to you? I have a 2.8G P4 along with a 450mhz cube running OS X at my desk here at work. Guess which one I use 90% of the day? The P4 can resize windows really fast, oh boy! Multi-tasking on it blows compared to Panther, or Jag for that matter.
A stripped down OS X ? You want an OS X lite, eh!
That looks like Panther to me, not Jag in your screenshot.

[ngrundy]

If you're just wanting to get the app off the screen learn cmd-h. Personally I never use minimise.

as for speed. Panther craps all over Jag for responsivness.

[Finrock]

xfesty: What OS are you running? There is a significant difference between 10.2 and 10.3. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned so far in this thread.

[MindFad]

I understand the complaints about GUI responsiveness, but I have to say, I am many times more productive than I ever was in OS 9. I can live with a slightly slower GUI with the multitasking and memory management I get with OS X.

My only realy complaints would be that I wish Apple would bring back the option to get rid of menu blinking, or at least set the number of blinks when you select an item. (Cipher will agree with me here.) It would be cool to have that added like we had in General Prefs in OS 9. Also scrolling. It's terrible compared to OS 9 or Windoze (especially noticeable in browsers). They did a lot to improve it from 10.1 > 10.2, but it hasn't changed in Panther. Actually, it may be slightly better, but not like OS 9. I'll live, though -- it's probably because I'm on a dual 800. Other than that, I love OS X. Does everything I need and I'm much more productive than I used to be. I want a G5, though. Ahem.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by sodamnregistered2:


Basically, Apple needs to make 2 product lines. "Pro" and "Home User".

I'd love a stripped down OS X that was devoid of animations, shadows, and candy in general.

Never ever going to happen plus it wouldn't help much at all.

[typoon]

Originally posted by SMacTech:
You have a dual G5 and you say it feels sluggish and lacking? My god, what computer, if any, would feel fast to you? I have a 2.8G P4 along with a 450mhz cube running OS X at my desk here at work. Guess which one I use 90% of the day? The P4 can resize windows really fast, oh boy! Multi-tasking on it blows compared to Panther, or Jag for that matter.
A stripped down OS X ? You want an OS X lite, eh!
That looks like Panther to me, not Jag in your screenshot.

I know how you feel. I just yesterday dropped a Sonnet 800 MHz Upgrade in my G4 450 and Everything seems much snappier. Even before when it was at 450 I'd rather have used that then my Mom's 1.7 P4 Running XP. Multitasking in XP sucks.

[typoon]

Originally posted by xfesty:
Hiya,

I'm the proud owner of a 1.25ghz 15" Powerbook, and things are great, but OS X *still* feels sluggish, in terms of responsiveness. I've tried a few optimising programs, and prebound everything, but it still doesn't feel *quite* as snappy as I'd like.

There's things that, if changed, would make the system feel faster; things such as changing the delay for menus on the dock coming up, increasing the speed of the fancy effects such as minimising windows, etc.

Anybody know of any utilities to do this?

You could try Tinkertool. One thing that helps is getting rid of the Rectangle effect when opening files in Panther.

Are you Running Panther (10.3) or Jaguar (10.2.x) on that 1.25 GHz? That could also be part of your problem as well.

[Judge_Fire]

I worked with a Dual 2.0 GHz G5, with Panther and lots of RAM this week.

I've been cursing the perceived speed, the UI responsiveness, for such a long time...

... but now I'm fine. It's good. I'm still several keystrokes ahead of whatever happens on the screen, but don't find myself pausing to wait for the interface anymore. Once the the G5 and fast bus speed trickles into the rest of the product line, Mac UI responsiveness should finally be decent.

If only Apple (and other developers!) would keep up the optimizing streak and tweak the software to run even smoother. Especially iPhoto...


J

[Dale Sorel]

Originally posted by xfesty:
Have 512MB ram; anymore won't really make much difference, right?

I just upped my iMac from 512MB to 1GB and the difference in overall speed is quite amazing