Slow with 2gb RAM?

Well, the main problem is that Microsoft Word is not a native Intel application. So yes, it will be slow. It's slow even on my 2.66Ghz quad core Mac Pro, just not AS slow as it is on my Macbook.

is there anything that would help speed up the processing??? mine is extremely slow and causes homework to take me a LONG time!

"is there anything that would help speed up the processing??? mine is extremely slow and causes homework to take me a LONG time!"

Alana, I'm guessing you don't have 2 Gig of RAM, if your Mac is so slow that it slows down your homework.

How much RAM do you have, and what programs are you running?

(The quick answer to a question like yours usually is: add more RAM and/or run fewer RAM-hungry programs (including widgets) at the same time. And replace legacy PPC apps with Universal versions or substitutes.)

I have a 2 week old MacBook Pro... I have been using a 667MHz/768MBRam 7 year old G4... The MacBook Pro is much faster in a few obvious things than the old G4... but not in many others but the worst is trying to connect a Pro on my network: SLO-W! After the G4 is recognized on the Pro, it probably takes 20 seconds to open a folder. To drag a file is even worse... when you start to drag it, the cursor goes into "spin" for about 20 seconds, then after you drop, it "copies for about another 20 seconds... this is for a 200K file!

There are a host of other problems as well. I think we are stuck, though. It's just "one of those things" and Apple can't /won't address. I can tell you that when I use the G4, I just don't have these problems.

Importantly, I have had a FROZEN MAC (nothing works and you have to hard restart) more times in the last week with the Pro than in the last 6 years with the G4!!!

MacBookPro 2.3GHz/@GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.9)

It may be worthwhile repairing permissions. That can often fix a slow Mac. In case you don't know how to do it:
1. In the finder, click GO
2. Select UTILITIES
3. Open DISK UTILITY
4. Select your HD Volume (e.g., Macintosh HD)
5. Click "Repair Disk Permissions"
6. When done, close Disk Utility.

If this does not work, you may have to run Disk Utility from your Install Disk 1.

True, Office is slow due to it running under rosetta, but 9 seconds is about double what Word 2004 takes to load on my system. You may wish to run through the suggestions the previous poster mentioned. Also be sure your office is up to date. I've applied all patches to mine, and the performance of Office 2004 has went up dramitically (possibly due to their patches, but most likely attributed to Rosetta tweaks Apple has been sneaking into the Tiger updates). At one point I dropped Office and Photoshop CS2 al together for OpenOffice and GIMP, however after 10.4.7 I realised I preferred the products from Adobe and Microsoft and went back and noticed Office and and CS2 performed much better and was completely tolerable this time around.

Anyhow, make sure everything, including Office is updated. Also try those suggestions to improve disk performance.

As side note, my hard drive is 7200 RPM v 5400 RPM, so that could make a slight difference. Though I do have another MacBook with a 5400 RPM and again Office is not that slow to load, but still takes a good 6 seconds.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx#Office2004

Nick

 MacBook Black Mac OS X (10.4.9) Core 2 Duo, 2GB Ram, Black Video iPod

Fast load times is ONLY true for launches after Rosetta and/or Word has been previously launched. On first launch of Word, or any Rosetta application for that matter, after a boot or restart can be quite slow. Remember, Rosetta first needs to be launched and set up for a Rosetta application to launch.

Additionally, running off battery will affect performance.

i dont know. i have a macbook. when i say homework i mean it takes a long time for my comp to go back and forth between an opened internet page and word.

Yes, actually the new NeoOffice is a nice subsitute for Office these days, it is much faster thand Office 2004 after loading due to its native code nature and the interface is good, and most importantly, it is free.

alana is writing about switching between browser and text editor. it has NOTHING to do with rosseta startup. thats really odd, but...its a mac...
I was also expecting much smoother operations under mac, but I was wrong. winXP is much faster in responses. And that i noticed under bootcamp on mac...
but still, the time described by alana is ridiculous. there has to be some bug or something....isnt your harddrive fully loaded<<???

is there anything that would help speed up the processing??? mine is extremely slow and causes homework to take me a LONG time!

How much RAM do you have, and what programs are you running?

i dont know. i have a macbook. when i say homework i mean it takes a long time for my comp to go back and forth between an opened internet page and word.

Alana21, hard to answer your problem without knowing how much RAM you have.

Click on Apple menu > About this Mac to see how much Memory there is, and report back.

Slow switching between programs, especially if you are running a legacy app like MS Word, usually is caused by too little RAM, or too many programs and widgets running at the same time.

(Please note that Alana has posted into a thread about slowness on a MacBook Pro with 2 Gigs of RAM -- while Alana's mac is a MacBook of yet-to-be-determined amount of RAM memory. This is why it is recommended to start a fresh thread rather than adding a new issue to an existing thread. Sigh!)

512mb

512mb

Alana21,

OK with 512 Meg RAM memory your MacBook is going to be slow switching between programs when you are running MS Word, or any other legacy PPC program (programs designed for the previous G4 processor Macs.)

To have decent performance you need to upgrade to 1 Gig of RAM memory. If you can afford it, get 2 Gigs -- the MacBook will really fly then.

RAM memory is a user-upgradeable part on the MacBook. If you or a friend is savvy about computer hardware, you/they could install it. It is a good idea to buy the RAM memory from a seller who guarantees compatibility with the Mac.

My choice is http://www.crucial.com -- though most any seller who guarantees Mac compatibility will be fine. The crucial site has a memory finder to help you order the correct memory. They also have excellent telephone support, if you prefer to order that way.

thank you very much!

Alana, you're welcome!

You won't go wrong with crucial, and get 2 Gigs, if your budget will allow. An Intel Mac (like your MacBook) really gets to show it's stuff with 2 Gigs of RAM memory. But even 1 Gig will be day-and-night different from 512 Meg when running Word.