From: walter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi Walter! Great post, just thought I'd add a few comments ...
Well, this is a bit of a complicated issue. I'm not a world-class expert on 64-bit computing, but what I do read about it leads me to believe that in point of fact 64-bit will NOT, at first, provide much of a "speed boost," since that's not what it's about really.Good point! Actually, i wasn't finding OS X too bad on our two previous G3s - an iMac DVSE 500MHz and a FIrewire iBook 366MHz. But as so many times before, we are now led to believe that Tiger, if the 64bit mode is activated, will be so much faster than Panther, so I will be curious to see whether the difference in performance between our two iMacs (G4 and G5) will show as sharply as they say it will under Tiger. It would be great if all Macs able to run OSX would show gains in performance obviously...
Certain types of operations will be GREATLY speeded up, but more like the way Altivec is used to greatly accelerate certain functions on a G4 or G5, not so much improving the overall speed of the system.
One way it was explained to me is like this: a 32-bit processor is like having a small patch of land (say, a few acres). You can get in a car and drive all round it pretty easily. A 64-bit processor is like having a somewhat faster car, but now your land encompasses several states. :)
IOW, the computing POWER will be much greater, but the actual speed at which the data moves around won't change that much. We'll have to wait for quantum physics to provide us with nanotech gateways (which can move data at the speed of light) for that to happen. :)
We continue to find it just about the quietest computer ever, only the Powerbook is quieter, but when the fan comes on in the 12" Albook, it is louder than the standard fan in the iMac.
I recently set up a 20" G5 iMac for a client, a process which took several hours because we were moving data over from his PC (switcher!!). The machine was one for almost a full day (but with no significant load on it) and if the fans ever even came on I sure didn't hear it. The PC owner noticed the difference in sound (and space under his desk!) immediately.
We are having only one problem, I'd say. And it has got to do with the size of the screen! It takes a hell of a lot to track things around the screen. At first we thought it was the Bluetooth Mouse being jerky and unreliable, or the interference from the Aiport Base Station. But we swapped over the wired keyboard and mouse from the G4 iMac and it felt just as slowly and hard to control. I think it is only a question of getting used to the real estate now on offer... I installed a little program called MouseZoom that increases tracking speed greatly and that seems to help.
Adjusting the Mouse and Keyboard preferences would have done much the same thing.
It's functional in the best sense of the word, I think.
Well put! Bravo!
_Chas_
FL-MUG: central Florida's Macintosh User Group. Meetings: second Thursday of the month, 6-9pm, at the Orlando Science Center. http://www.flmug.org
-- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Think Different Store
http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
