Macbook really slow and "sticking" a lot

Please help with buying memory!

I brought a brand new Macbook in September. Even when it was really new my MS Word for mac was always really slow to start up. My MS Word on my PC is faster than my Mac! Why is this? Do all mac users have this problem with starting up MS Word for mac? What can I do to make it open faster?
Also, I've noticed that the cursor and constantly "sticking"...I don't really know how to explain this, but it's like my cursor "freezes" and won't do what I want it to do. And I keep getting the spinning colour wheel ALL THE TIME!
Help? Any advice?

Thanks!

Added December 17th-
Here is the info about my computer:

Machine Name: MacBook
Machine Model: MacBook1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB11.0061.B03
SMC Version: 1.4f12
Serial Number: 4H63864GVMM
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

Now I am computer illerate. I've had my macbook since September and I still don't quite have the hang of it. Could someone please tell me exactly what kind of memory and how much I need to upgrade to? If you could tell me what website to buy it from and the exact name/code/whatever of the memory I need, that would help me out very much. I tried searching "macbook memory" but I couldn't find anything that helped me out.

Thank you!!!

How much memory do you have in your MacBook?

Are you running many things at once, or are you just firing up Word?

I'm assuming it's slow and hanging a bit because there's not a universal version of MS word for intel macs yet. Use Neo Office instead, brilliant program and does everything word can do if you didnt know

Yeah Word is running in emulation through Rosetta. Even though it's Word for mac, it's word for PowerPC mac.

I'm using Office:Mac on my Macbook and it runs smoothly: never had a problem with slowness or "sticking."

I have 2 GB of memory here, which is why I was wondering what the memory sitch was on sunshine's mac.

i second the 'thumbs up' for neo-office.

pretty much nothing a normal user would do in word that it can't do, including save/read in .doc format.

i also used open office and portable open office for windows when i had my own wintel machine.

third for neo office, its the same as Open Office, and does everything i need it to and more

Is neo office free? I spent over $200 for office mac, so I don't want to have to buy anymore software.
I think I only have 1 GB of memory. I want to buy some more, but I just haven't gotten around to looking. What are some good websites to buy memory from?

Thanks.

indeed it is free.

neo office

*bump* please read my original message, I edited it!

Thanks

sunshine1686 said:

Is neo office free? I spent over $200 for office mac, so I don't want to have to buy anymore software.
I think I only have 1 GB of memory. I want to buy some more, but I just haven't gotten around to looking. What are some good websites to buy memory from?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

According to your stats, you have 512MB, minimal on the system. I would recommend getting 1GB. Look at otherworldcomputing.com, newegg.com, or crucial.com for good deals. That will probably alleviate your sticking.

I know this may be like comparing apples and oranges, but I too find when running MS Word on my iBook G4 1Gb RAM is slow and sluggish, well I mean within the MS Word loading fonts and changing margins under page setup is reaaally slow

deus_ex_machina said:

According to your stats, you have 512MB, minimal on the system. I would recommend getting 1GB. Look at otherworldcomputing.com, newegg.com, or crucial.com for good deals. That will probably alleviate your sticking.

Click to expand...

Indeed you're right. Can my system hold 2gb of RAM?

sunshine1686 said:

Indeed you're right. Can my system hold 2gb of RAM?

Click to expand...

yup

I checked out the alternatives to Word, such as NeoOffice, etc, but although they are alternative programs, they cannot open and save Word files with all formatting in tact, which is essential when sharing files with other users of Office. If it's just for your own personal use, then fair enough. I'd also recommend WriteRoom (http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/writeroom) as an alternative.

Although it cant retain "All formatting" ive never had any real issues when saving from neo-office and sharing it with word users

~~ TS ~~

No, I'm sure you haven't. But I work on reports in templates sent to me by clients, and I have to ensure all formatting is retained, and styles - hence I'm locked into using Word. Believe me, if I could I'd use one of the Mac-specific alternatives too...

You will find that upgrading your ram to 2 g will increase the speed of your system alot. However even with 2g of ram opening Office 2004 on either of my Macs is slower then on my pc but once opened it works as quick or quicker.

AppleWorks is still a viable and very useful Word compatible solution. Also MS Office 2007 will be out in August about. And Pages is a great program and very easy to use once you get familiar with the surroundings. Once learned pages I wondered how I ever used Word. The only thing is Pages has not Grammatic', just spell. But still worth it.

The memory you need : http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4922151

Here are the instructions you will need to install:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_Memory_DIY.pdf

while we are on track of macffice.

I use the office suite for my mac but often open files on university computers for printing.

Ive found that when graphs are imported to word (on my mac) saved and then transfered to windows for printing, the y axis title does not appear, nor print.

any ideas?