At 11:59 AM +0100 1/23/2010, Mac User #330250 wrote:
> Why? What did you do to it? My 300-MHz Smurf handles files just as
fast as my 1.5 GHz PB G4, and my housemate's x GHz AMD Windoze
machine. Safari displays pages almost as fast as they do too. Iffa
your Smurf is slow, then you messed something up.
Might well be. I installed Tiger using my G4. I did all the updates and
installed everything System Update was offering
Do you use Dashboard? If not, disable it (with OnyX). It's chewing
up 40 MB real memory.
Check to see how much cpu time Spotlight's indexing is chewing (md*
processes). You may find your system is much more responsive if you
disable the indexing. (Search this LEM list for the details of using
the mdutil commands to do it).
(including iTunes 9.0.2).
iTunes performance is pretty much a total embarrassment to Apple.
That being said, while 9 is required to talk to much of the iTunes
Store now, the offical version for G3 systems is 8.2.1.
GIMP 2.6.6
GIMP is nice. I prefer GraphicConverter 5.9.5 on the Smurf.
OpenOffice.org 3.1.1
Slow on any sub-GHz system. AppleWorks kicks its butt.
Stuffit Expander 13.0.3
Known to clobber Finder's performance, and cause so many other
problems... StuffIt is pretty much crapware these days. Make it go
away.
Carbon Copy Cloner 3.2.1
Update this.
Adobe Reader 9.2 (I yet have to update to 9.3!)
If you don't need Reader for something specific, use Preview instead.
Reader is typical Adobe crapware - it's full of security holes etc.
Burn 2.3 (the G3 build)
Nice build of ffmpeg therein; I use it often (t'was easier than
building my own copy). But then I use Sizzle to create the DVD
itself - much better control etc.
...Performance tip: Transcoding is very cpu intensive, which can
really slow your system's response time. So I get the process going,
then renice it to +10. This essentially lowers its priority, so the
system will kick it to the curb faster when I start using the Mac for
other things. When I walk away from my Mac, I'm careful to sleep the
display or at least put the mouse in the "screen saver off" corner.
I'd rather the cpu time was given to ffmpeg or Sizzle than the screen
saver.
sudo renice +10 pid
Mozilla Firefox 3.5.2 (as I'm writing this 3.6 is out)
Camino 2.0.1
Flash Player 10.0.42.34
Shockwave Player 11.5.2.602
Be sure to install a Flash blocker in your browsers. Amazing how
fast the web becomes when Flash is put under tight control!!!
Little Snitch 2.1.4 (THIS may slow things down)
Yea, it does.
I've skipped Windows Media Components for Quicktime 2.3.0.14, since the 350
MHz G3 won't be able to play WMV files anyway.
Flip4Mac does pretty well, actually. I've got a lot of wmv files
that play fine on my Smurf. And having it installed lets you
transcode them with ffmpeg.
When I say that it's slow I'm comparing it to my G4 Dual-800 which is feeling
responsive. The G3 B&W 350 MHz lets me wait a lot, e.g. when I start typing I
can see the letters on the screen one or two seconds later until it finished
loading (the HDD is working a lot), thereafter it starts acting "normal" i.e.
without delay. This is even so when it already finished loading = sitting
there for some time waiting for me doing something with it.
You should NOT be experiencing any typeahead delays.
It's possible that Spotlight's indexing is dragging you down.
How much memory does the system have?
Internet browsing feels a lot slower too compared to the Dual-QS. But that was
expected. The speed is okay for what I do. Watching YouTube videos isn't a
good idea though, as almost 23 out of 24 frames are skipped (subjective
feeling, don't let me quote a reliable source on this!).
Firefox is noticeably slower than Safari 4. And both can be dragged
to their knees by Flash.
WRT YouTube... Videos are either Flash or H.264. Flash is a slow
pig. And Apple's H.264 codec is horrible. It really needs a G4 or
better.
> >I read so many postings here about people buying or working with
>Power Macs and G3/G4-Laptops. [...] But why? (Why Power Macs _and_
>why Mac OS X?)
PowerPC based Macs, both desktop and laptop *RUN*. With few
exceptions, they are VERY reliable. You give them a task and they DO
it. Almost forever.
I am very certain that this is true. The PowerPC architecture was more robust
than the newer Intel design is. Intels have a lot of legacy "features" to
carry along, which doesn't make the design overall better.
Nothing to do with the processor architecture. This is about
manufacturing quality -- Intel parts are cheap for a reason.
- Dan.
--
- Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth.
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