Processor speed

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Boacrow

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I reecently bought a couple of Macs because I thought they were so much faster and less susceptable to crashing than a PC. I have not found that to be the case so far and am wondering if there is something I can do to make these things run faster. The ones I settled on are a 17" MacBook Pro and a 20" iMac. My son has games that are very slow and they hang up alot even though these two computers ealsily meet and exceed the system requirements. I have also noticed that they hang up quite a bit at other times. When I try to close out a webpage for example. I'm not sure what to do. I'm still standing firm on keeping them even though software is nonexistant unless I order online and they seem to run slower than the last PC I had. Please help me! I am suffering mass amounts of ridicule from the family for this and they are constantly wanting me to take them back and get PCs instead. I am at wits end and need some advice badly.
 
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The games must be universal binaries, otherwise they will run poorly on the new intel based systems.

Check for a patch on the developers website.

More info:
http://www.apple.com/universal/


Also if you have 512MB of RAM, consider upgrading to 1GB. You'll notice a lot better performance if you do.
 
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LIke Aptmunich said, I would upgrade the ram to 1GB and you will forsure notice a lot better performance. If you have any Questions, Just Post away, but to keep some members happy, try and use the search first.
 
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As somebody else said, the binary type is a major factor. If your sons games are not in universal binaries, then they are going to run *much* slower than they should. There's nothing you can do about this until the maker of the game, releases a universal binary update.

As for crashing and hanging up, that sounds like a problem. Most average users go six months to a year, before finally seeing a program hang up or crash. It's very rare. If it's happening frequently, I'd bring the system into your local Apple store, and reproduce the problem for them.
 
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Boacrow

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Great responses everyone. I have no idea what it means but it's great to know There are people on here with the technical knowledge to answer such questions. This is all new to me and I really have no idea what I'm doing. My MacBok does have 1 gig of memory so it must be that binary thing that was mentioned. Also, it hasn't crashed or anything, it just hangs up for a few minutes. I am really learning alot with this thing. Hopefully I will figure it all out soon. Sorry about asking something that has been asked before, I'm kind of new to this posting thing so I'm not really familliar with all of the features yet. Thanks for the great help. I hope I can figure this out soon.
 
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remember that this is a transitional phase....

i'm on a MacBook and i've had few problems.
 
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Just look at it like this for now...

Colour tv has just been invented but all the shows are still in B/W....you can watch them on your new colour tv without any trouble, but in the not too distant future all your fave shows will be going colour!
 
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Good analogy. Someday nobody will really remember what it was like to use a PPC make, kinda like those of us who used to run 68k machines and still have a Quadra or two around ;)
 
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Boacrow said:
Great responses everyone. I have no idea what it means... My MacBok does have 1 gig of memory so it must be that binary thing that was mentioned. Also, it hasn't crashed or anything, it just hangs up for a few minutes.

The binary thing is the difference of processor designs used in previous Macs and the current line up such as the Macbook Pro you have. Apple previously used processors built by IBM and Motorola, known as PPC chips. The new machines such as your Macbook, operate using Intel processors. The difference is such that Intel chips can't directly run software designed for PPC chips, and vise versa.

Many of the software companies, including the game companies are catching up to Apple's change by rewriting, testing and eventually releasing their software for the Intel Macs also. This is taking a bit of time, but several have released games that run natively on the Intel processors.

Apple has added a feature into OS X called Rosetta. Rosetta allows the older PPC code to run on the Intel hardware. There is a penalty of speed, especially I would think for games, which are very demanding.

So, you'd be best advised to check the game companies internet site to see if they have released a native Intel version. A software application that has been compiled (written) to run on both PPC and Intel Macs is known as a Universal binary.

To figure out the processor on the iMac, click the Apple logo in the upper left hand corner, then click on the first selection "About this Mac". The Processor should say Intel, otherwise PowerPC. Sounds to my like you did get an Intel.

As for your stalling problem, I'm not sure what to think about that. More details would be helpful. Is is a particular application such as Safari or a game? During startup or quitting? You do know you can click on other applications and use them well another one is doing something, right? That will be touch to diagnose over the net. Perhaps you can take the Macbook back to the store or Apple store for some help.

These new Intel Macs can run MS Windows XP, Service Pack 2, with the help of a tool called BootCamp, that is available from the Apple site. That is a decent solution to run PC games. Of course you then open the Windows side of the system to all those nasty virii and malware.

As for people bugging you about your purchase. Forget their opinions. You've decided to try Mac for a reason. They are great systems, but as with ALL computers, they can have their issues too.
 
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Great post! Very helpful, thanks for that.
 

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