Is Mac OS X Slow?

Junks Jerzey asks: "Every time there's a mention of Mac OS X on Slashdot, there's a flurry of responses about how unbearably slow Mac OS X is. To anyone who has done software development under both Mac OS X and Windows or Linux, is there any truth to this or is it simply a knee-jerk reaction from non-Mac users who see low numbers like 800MHz. I'm talking about average priced Macs here, like the LCD iMac line, not the dual 1.25GHz machines that sell for $4500+." Having the fortune of using a Titanium Powerbook for over a month, I don't find Mac OS X that slow at all, however, there are some things that do take a little longer than I am used to, but I think these things are application-specific. For those Mac OS X users out there, have you noticed operations that seemed slower using Mac OS X compared to similar operations on other operating systems?

Comments

I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were slower..

[Quickening]

...it's running a micro-bsd kernel!

As I recall...

[drhairston]

I remember using a Macintosh, it was called the 'SE'. I found that while it presented a nice graphical interface, it was far slower than a PC, and I've been a PC user ever since.

How is this news?

History

[Monkelectric]

I've had the fortune or misfortune to use many Macs from many eras, it is perfectly clear that Apple has always stressed features over (even ridiculously poor) performance. Macs have always been unbearably slow. It's kind of a cultural thing, Mac users are simply willing to wait. What sticks in my mind the most is the Quadras of the 90's that just dog slow, even the top of the line ones we had (6-9k each). That being said it wouldn't surprise me if OSX is slow, although I personally haven't used it enough to render an opinion.

(flamers and other retards, please note this is not an endorsement of MS by counter-example)

Re:Its not the machines that are slow....

[Frank of Earth]

You would have to be slow to think this chick would convice anyone to switch to a mac.

Janie Porche

When she says she saved xmas, I want to kick her in the face!

Moderation -1: Flamebait

[option8]

can i mod this story as flamebait?

Re:Time is perception relative

[cscx]

My view: OS X on a 400MHz G4 is fine. Applications my have a performance constraint due to slow CPU speed, but actual navigation of the OS is not a problem

That is so retarded. That's like saying "Linux on an i386/16 with 4 MB RAM is fine. Applications may have a performance constraint due to slow CPU speed, but typing ls at a shell prompt is not a problem."

Re:Check Complete

[zapfie]

Maybe you should upgrade to a Mac so your spell checker isn't so slow.

Re:I find Mac OS X slow

[sql*kitten]

I find it a bit slow, but I consider my hardware marginal.

I have a 500MHz G3 iBook, 384MB RAM, OS X 10.2. It is not really slow, but it is not as fast as my linux machine, a 750MHz Athlon, 640MB RAM, KDE3

What do you mean marginal?! That's an almost ridiculously powerful configuration. 20 years ago there were countries being administered with less processor power than that. It's more processor power than even existed in the world not that long ago. Any software that doesn't fly on that hardware is badly written, full stop.

Re:Answer to title.

[AKnightCowboy]

That all sounds pretty complicated. My Athlon system on the other hand is just inherently fast without needing to worry about all that. Hmm. I thought Macs were made for newbies?! Trying to figure out how to install and run apps under MacOS X is a lot more complicated than Windows. They seem to just get dumped into a big disk image and copied to a folder on the hard drive where you have to go looking for it. Windows on the other hand adds a handy link to the start menu.

Re:Moshe Bar compares OS X to Linux

[be-fan]

Typical mac-head response. 10.2 didn't really change anything in the programs he was testing. He tested network and I/O, while Jaguar improved the GUI (read the ChangeLogs for Darwin). And the GUI shouldn't take up many cycles at all if he isn't using it. Compiling a big app in the back ground takes the same amount of time with the GUI on as with it off. And it's obvious Linux has a better I/O and network subsystem. The Linux subsystems have been continuously tweeked for the last several years. The extent of the tweeking in the OS X kernel is whatever a few Apple engineers could do to 4.4 BSD and Mach 2.x in a couple of years.

Re:Macintosh faggots

[sco08y]

There's nothing worse than a broccoli flavored cock up the ass. Except maybe a key-lime iBook.