apps for new imac

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Level 2

205 points

apps for new imac

My new intel based imac is set to ship tomorrow, and I'm pumped to get it, but after reading a lot of these posts I'm a little worried about software and certain applications causing problems. Some people are sayin that their machines are running really slow, and people think it's because they are running PPC apps. How do I know what apps to look out for, which ones are universal and all that?? How can you check to see if an app is PPC or intel? Give me the whole run down!!

ibookG4 512 MB Airport Extreme; imac G5 20 1.5 GB, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Aug 22, 2006 5:59 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

Aug 22, 2006 6:10 PM in response to Lance Nelson

See this article for information on locating PowerPC-only applications on your system. In general, PowerPC drivers and other files will be more troublesome on an Intel Mac than standalone applications will be, and you should use the Migration Assistant to migrate only your home folder to avoid performance issues.

(15474)

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Answer 2

Lance Nelson Author

Level 2

205 points

Aug 22, 2006 6:18 PM in response to Niel

Thanks man, I'm just worried about apps that I already have and will be installing on the new machine like Office, and I have a copy of Maple(Math program) and Adobe Acrobat, I'm just worried about putting all that stuff on their now!!!

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Answer 3

Lance Nelson Author

Level 2

205 points

Aug 22, 2006 6:36 PM in response to Lance Nelson

okay, so now I have a few more questions: I'm noticing that most of the apps I have now, including most of iLife are PowerPC apps. Am I going to be running everything through Rosetta on this new machine?? Will I notice a performance difference because of this? If there is a universal version of the apps that I already have, do I have to buy a whole new copy or is it a simply a matter of downloading an update. Should I be worried about all these PowerPC apps that I use on an hourly basis???:) Thanks for the input

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Answer 4

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

Aug 22, 2006 6:51 PM in response to Lance Nelson

1. Check the versions of the iLife applications on the new iMac. You don't need to migrate them from the old iMac in any case, as the new iMac will include iLife.

2. Everything which comes with an Intel Mac should be Intel native; applications you add to it later may not be.

3. Some applications have free updates to Universal versions; search MacUpdate for information on specific applications.

4. Not if you dragged them to the Applications folder.

(15477)

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Answer 5

Lance Nelson Author

Level 2

205 points

Aug 22, 2006 7:32 PM in response to Niel

Thanks, that helps. Now for those apps that have not been released in the universal version yet and I have to run them through Rosetta will the performance suffer. My machine is upgraded all the way in every category except the HD.

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Answer 6

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

Aug 22, 2006 11:50 PM in response to Lance Nelson

If the application is CPU intensive, it will be significantly slower in Rosetta; using an application such as AppleWorks won't be affected nearly as much, and you may not notice any reduction in speed with applications that are light on the CPU.

(15497)

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Answer 7

Aug 23, 2006 1:30 AM in response to Lance Nelson

Thanks man, I'm just worried about apps that I
already have and will be installing on the new
machine like Office, and I have a copy of Maple(Math
program) and Adobe Acrobat, I'm just worried about
putting all that stuff on their now!!!

If you plan on running office I suggest upgrading your ram to at least 1 gig, Rosetta is a memory hog, I just upgraded my imac to 1 gig and office now works as quickly as most native programs.

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Answer 8

Lance Nelson Author

Level 2

205 points

Aug 23, 2006 6:42 PM in response to vince bennett

Thanks, this imac has 2 GB of ram, so I should be fine. I'm just reading posts about people that are experiencing seriously slow machines and wondering what is going on.

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