 |
|
|
 |
||
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
Power Macs iMac Channel iBook/PowerBook MacInSchool Computer Profiles iMac Power Mac PowerBook/iBook Performas Mac Clones Older Macs Lisa • NeXT Editorial Archive Mac Daniel's Advice Email Lists LEMchat (uses AIM) Online Tech Journal Consumer advice, reviews guides, deals Software Apple History Best of the Web Best of the Mac Web surveys Miscellaneous Links Best Used Mac Buys Used Mac Dealers Video Cards Mac OS X Mac Linux Macspeak RAM Upgrades About Low End Mac Site Contacts
Support LEMAffiliates
|
Windows, Macs, OS X, and Real World Performance- 2003.02.14 Low End Mac Reader SpecialsMemory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $192 / 2GB kit $109. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 1GB $23--Free shipping available. Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here. Other World Computing: OWC Mercury On-The-Go FW400/800/USB2/eSATA Solutions: High Performance A/V Rated, **Bus Powered** Hard Disk Storage - **Now 40GB and up to ***250GB*** in the palm of your hand. Macworld Magazine Editor's Choice - from $87.99! Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
Windows users with little Macintosh experience often say that the Mac "feels slow." They find that starting up the computer, opening applications, browsing the Internet, copying and moving files, and other simple tasks feel slower than on their Windows PC. First, the Mac OS and Microsoft Windows are two completely different operating systems. Even though operation of the user interface is similar, they work in different ways. PCs can vary greatly in startup time because of the instructions in the BIOS that may need to load before Windows can start. Some take a long time and search for each drive before Windows can load; others just assume the drives are there and load Windows right away. The Mac also has to search for peripherals before the operating system can start up, but Macs tend to be a bit faster at this than many PCs (although newer PCs do it quickly). On the other hand, the Mac OS itself does take longer to load than most versions of Windows. Startup time also depends upon the speed of the computer. Mac OS 9 on a 1 GHz G4 is going to start up in a few seconds. The same operating system on a 233 MHz G3 will take much longer to load. Some applications take longer to load on the Mac. Much of this is because Microsoft likes to "integrate" its software products with the operating system as much as possible, so you will find that Word for Windows loads very quickly compared to Word for Macintosh, which takes its time. Photoshop, which isn't a Microsoft product, has about the same load time on a comparable Mac and PC. Browsing the Internet - it seems I cover this very often, and the simple fact is that Internet Explorer is integrated into Windows, and the Mac browsers don't have that advantage to increase their speed. (Also, Chimera, Mozilla, and Safari tend to be a lot faster than Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac.) Moving and copying files is definitely fast on a PC. However, I do have to give credit to Mac OS X 10.2, which seems to have significantly increased the speed at which files can be transferred from drive to drive or over a network to your local drive. At present, I'd say that there is probably very little difference between copying files on a PC and copying files on a Mac - and possibly none at all. By now, everyone (even Pixar) realizes that the PC is far ahead in terms of Photoshop and other high end rendering performance, but when I sit down at a computer, I'm looking at real world performance, not which machine can benchmark higher. For a while, a Mac with OS X was not a fast computer. In
fact, it was probably about the slowest hardware and software
combination out there. I have compared it to when System 7 came out
and much of the hardware Apple was selling at the The same thing has happened with Mac OS X. When it first came out, it was only just tolerable on Apple's most expensive hardware. But due to improvements in the operating system itself and increases in the speed of the hardware, Mac OS X has become extremely useable. The G4 iMac runs X very well now, whereas the iMac of 2000 ran it extremely slowly. Not that everyone can afford to buy new hardware, and not that
they necessarily should, but in a few years' time the complaints
about OS X being dog slow will be nothing but a memory.
Recent Apple Archive articles
Recent Content on Low End Mac
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it. Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml. Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style. PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged. |
time was barely able to run it, never mind run
it well. The 16 MHz 68030-based 