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utw-Mephisto · Jan 24, 2007, 12:00 PM

I've got the black MacBook with 1 GB Ram (2 GB have been ordered and should arrive soon).

The first thing I installed on a fresh Mac OS X installation was shapshifter, Firefox, MSN, VLC, Toast and Download Speed. Thats pretty much it ...

I normally shutdown the laptop (not just suspend) over night and leave it running only when I have a download in the background.

System monitor doesn't show any high CPU or memory leaks but it seems the whole thing runs slower ....

If I start FF for example, it takes a while until it starts up .. is there something I miss ?!?

ibook_steve · Jan 24, 2007, 12:57 PM

Starting Firefox isn't really a good determination of a machine running slower. FF always takes a while to start. What else makes you think things are slow? How much free space do you have on your hard disk?

Steve

utw-Mephisto · Jan 24, 2007, 02:31 PM

Well, it used to be faster though (FF) ... I got 22 GB free on the hard disk.

It actually doesn't matter which application I open, most of them need now almost an eternity to open ....

Geofries · Jan 24, 2007, 02:45 PM

Exact same thing happening to me...

ibook_steve · Jan 24, 2007, 05:14 PM

Can you define an "eternity" in dock bounces? Do the programs run slow once you start using them? Are you using Universal apps or could these be PowerPC apps that would require the use of Rosetta?

Steve

utw-Mephisto · Jan 24, 2007, 05:22 PM

Firefox for example takes 10-15 seconds to start and its a universal binary ... Since I just started using Mac I don't even have a clue what Rosetta is

But once the program is started, it acts ok ...

frdmfghtr · Jan 24, 2007, 06:20 PM

Rosetta is the means by which the Intel Macs run PowerPC applications. It acts as a translator (hence the name 'Rosetta' as in the Rosetta Stone) between the PowerPC application and the Intel hardware.

If you start the Activity Monitor and scroll all the way to the right, you will see a column marked "Kind". This will tell you in an application is PowerPC-based or Intel-based. If it is a PowerPC app, then Rosetta is translating it to the Intel architecture; if it says Intel, then it is being run directly.

This may not be technically accurate, but it should give you an idea of what Rosetta is. Or, you can read more at Apple - Rosetta

utw-Mephisto · Jan 24, 2007, 06:49 PM

Thanks for the explanation

Everything says Intel except "Microsoft AU Demon"... I have MSN installed so I guess its some sort of Update thing (typical) .. I will check for a MSN replacement for Intel native and check if it runs better then.

I will probably reinstall anyway once Leopard hits the marked and I should receive my new Ram soon too ... hopefully it solves the problem ...

frdmfghtr · Jan 25, 2007, 12:03 AM

That update daemon is for Office 2004--there is no Intel or Universal Binary version (yet). Office for Mac 2008 (second half of this year) is the release timeframe for a universal version.

utw-Mephisto · Jan 25, 2007, 12:10 AM

Ah I see .. well thats the only thing which says "Power PC" all other are Intel ...

Mmm.. then I really don't know what is causing this ...

xsphat · Jan 25, 2007, 07:21 PM

I mentioned this a while back and everyone lol'ed at me. See, it is real!

utw-Mephisto · Jan 25, 2007, 07:23 PM

I have the feeling its getting worse every day .... considering this is a Dual 2 Core I am quite disappointed actually. My AMD 3400+ has more oompf

ibook_steve · Jan 25, 2007, 07:44 PM

You still haven't really said what else feels "slow." Also, what are your energy saver settings set to?

Steve

xtal · Jan 25, 2007, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by utw-Mephisto

I have the feeling its getting worse every day .... considering this is a Dual 2 Core I am quite disappointed actually. My AMD 3400+ has more oompf

A small point, but an important one.

I think you mean Core 2 Duo.

utw-Mephisto · Jan 25, 2007, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

You still haven't really said what else feels "slow." Also, what are your energy saver settings set to?

Steve

I tried setting it to performance .. so no Energy saver at all .. and with slow I mean that applications take longer than usual to start.

For example: On a fresh install I start Firefox and it starts immediately .. a week after, I see the first busy icon for like 4 seconds (balloon thingi) ... a few more days, I see the busy thing for almost 10 seconds ... now I am at about 15 seconds (used watch to check) which is an eternity imho ... And so it goes on with other application as well ....

Originally Posted by xtal

A small point, but an important one.

I think you mean Core 2 Duo.

pptech1 · Feb 4, 2007, 12:33 AM

I'm having the SAME exact problem with Firefox. I'm even using BonEcho, still slow to startup. Around 25 seconds.

utw-Mephisto · Feb 4, 2007, 08:22 AM

So it seems it is FF then ?~Mmm... Cannot imagine using another browser to be honest

Chips G · Feb 4, 2007, 10:33 AM

Try uninstalling Shapeshifter, and see how it works now...not sure if it is the cause, but I could see that it might be.

utw-Mephisto · Feb 4, 2007, 10:38 AM

not on mine anymore .. I also thought thats the logical conclusion ...

AppleJockey · Feb 5, 2007, 05:33 PM

try downloading ONYX

Originally Posted by utw-Mephisto

I've got the black MacBook with 1 GB Ram (2 GB have been ordered and should arrive soon).

The first thing I installed on a fresh Mac OS X installation was shapshifter, Firefox, MSN, VLC, Toast and Download Speed. Thats pretty much it ...

I normally shutdown the laptop (not just suspend) over night and leave it running only when I have a download in the background.

System monitor doesn't show any high CPU or memory leaks but it seems the whole thing runs slower ....

If I start FF for example, it takes a while until it starts up .. is there something I miss ?!?

GDB · Feb 5, 2007, 09:09 PM

Is this a common problem? I want to switch to Mac, and one of the reasons is Windows always 'slows down' over time.

If this happens on Mac too I'd be really disappointed

chrisdisregard · 06:12 PM

...

Big Mac · 02:54 AM

The infamous bounce test...

You shouldn't be benchmarking your system that way. Application launch speed is determined in large part by hard drive speed. Laptops (and budget Macs like eMacs) have slower drives. That can be one explanation. However, if launch time increases as uptime increases, then it could be something else - perhaps a lack of RAM, or maybe heavy disk access due to VM usage/swapping. (If you can hear your drive chattering prior to launching an application, you can be sure the application you launch will take substantially longer to load than it otherwise would.) I have never experienced the problem described. What's being described is counter to what should be occurring - due to caching, applications should launch faster with subsequent launches.

ecking01 · Feb 6, 2007, 03:36 AM

My MBP has gotten slower and slower as I've owned it too, I have no idea why. When I first upgraded to 1.5gb ram is was incredibly faster, but now it's so slow to startup and slow to launch applications, I have no idea what's wrong with it.

GDB · Feb 6, 2007, 04:50 AM

Jeez, I have to strike this off my "why I should switch" list.

Hi I'm Ben · Feb 6, 2007, 07:52 AM

Firefox can slow for a number of reasons.

- Large cache
- Lots of plugins
- Certain plugins
- Other applications you may have installed running in the background
- Your imagination

Regardless if you install your computer all at once and put everything you want running on it form day one it's pretty unlikely you should be seeing any serious slow down from that point on. If you are, do some maintenance tasks on your machine, take it to the apple store, post in a message board.

GDB, I often find anecdotal evidence of one or two users experiencing a problem a universal truth and make all my buying decisions based on that. Especially on the internet where users are known for their robust intelligence and superb reviews.