New MacBook User - General Advice Needed

Hi Guys,

I'm a brand new Mac user, and have bought a standard MacBook.

My first thing is, what is the best way of speeding it up and keeping it fast? Should I strip the RAM out and put new RAM in? Are there any maintenance tools I should download and use? Any other suggestions?

Also, are there any programs that you would consider essential for every Mac user?

Thanks
Alex

Upgrading more RAM isn't going to help you much if you are not using it all with what you are doing currently. If you really want to get a good idea if more RAM will help you then open up Activity Monitor in your applications utilities folder at the end of the day and see how much page outs and swaps you have in your system memory section. If you have a lot then adding more RAM can help you. Somedays you might be using your computer more intensely so those days will give you different data.

Other than that a faster hard drive, which speeds up things like opening and saving files/applications, most of the time your computer's speed performance is a combination of several factors so telling you to upgrade one thing may not solve your problem in other areas. Although if you upgrade to the fastest hard drive and max out your RAM there really isn't any other upgrade you can do except buying a faster computer. If you don't feel that your computer is slow now then those upgrades will only be a waste of money for the time being.

Onyx is a maintenance application many people use but I only use it rarely unless I have a specific problem. You want to repair your permissions in Disk Utilities every so often especially if you have installed a lot of applications lately. Also you should keep somewhere between 15-20% of your hard drive space free. Mac OS X doesn't like it when you fill up your hard drive. If you get to that point then start deleting files you don't need, transfer them to an external hard drive, or upgrade your internal drive.

Thanks for your post!

I've downloaded Onyx, but I'm not really aware of what the options are. Have you got any advice of what I should/shouldn't do with Onyx?

As for the activity monitor, I'll take a look. How many counts as a lot?

Thanks

Well since you are new Mac users you shouldn't really worry about it for now. Just starting up Onyx will allow you check the SMART status of your hard drive to see if it's okay. That's something worth doing but unless you have a specific problem you don't need to make Onyx a routine. I hardly ever use it. When you need to use it then we can help you.

As for RAM and Activity Monitor, technically if you are getting any then you have used up your RAM at one point. Unless I'm doing something intense on my computer I usually get 0. If you are real picky about speed performance then that could be your reference point. Although if you are getting several gigs in page outs and swaps then you are definitely in need of more RAM.

Thanks for all your help

You might want to look into CleanMyMac, that program has helped me a bit.

Onyx is good.
Swap an intel X25 80GB or 160GB SSD will give you a burst in speed.
If you don't mind go into a bit hustle:
Try a macbook second hard drive caddy and swap the SSD with the super drive.