Mac - some issues
May 17th, 2007 by chandrashekar
I own a 1.83Ghz, Intel Core Duo Macbook with 512 MB of RAM. I was taken in by stories of how stable Macs are and how they never, ever crash. I also liked the idea of having the option to install Windows if I really want to!
Interfaces are beautiful, the exterior design is splendid (I still get stared at when I use my Macbook in public places). But there are issues:
1. Browser - Safari is not as feature rich as Firefox. Lotsa things don’t work right on Safari. Firefox, however, has become a pain in the ass. The last 5 times I shut down my computer, I had to “force-quit” Firefox.
Is it a crime to have more than 5 tabs open with one of them running youtube?
I have realized that sites that are heavy on the Javascript like GMail invariably crash my browser mid-session! I change tabs and *boom* I see the dreaded colour wheel (the mouse turns into a spinning colour-wheel on a non-responsive window).
The colour wheel now represents the equivalent of the BSOD.
2. Office-suite - OpenOffice for Mac is so so so bad! It takes forever to open, it crashes when it pleases and in combination with Firefox it makes my computer a torture device.
Over the past few days I have been using Neooffice. Pretty cool, a little faster, controls work nicely, doesn’t run on top of X11 (like OOo). But, 3 out of 5 times I have to force quit it when I shut down my computer.
3. Dashboard - Performance. Sucks. It is so damn frustrating! It took 7 seconds for the dashboard to show up after which it took another 5 seconds for my keystrokes to register on the calculator. This is with just 6 widgets.
4. Trashcan - Maybe I’m doing something stupid here, but why-the-f*** doesn’t the trashcan let me delete individual files permanently instead of emptying the whole damn thing?
I have to resort to “rm -rf” to get rid of specific files without also flushing out files that still have some value.
If there is a way to do this nicely, leave a comment. But I can’t see it. So it sure as hell isn’t intuitive. like Macs are supposed to be.
Update: There is a nice way. Hit Shift+Apple+Del. thanks for the comment. But you know what… every time you do that, it will ask you if you want to empty your entire trashcan (it will ultimately delete only the selected file). mein gott.
Update to the update: Shit. Shift+Apple+Del does in fact empty the damn trashcan.
5. Quicktime - I can’t watch videos in fullscreen mode without the Divx player or VLC? What the hell! I think somewhere along the way, the updater installer QT 7 and now the damn things wants me to upgrade to pro before I can watch videos on full screen mode.
Again, let me know if I screwed up. I don’t think I did.
6. VLC - Taking about Video… VLC for Mac is the shittiest app I have installed and run on this computer. It’s slow and it has crashed almost every single time I have opened it. I don’t why I still have it… oh wait, right because QT sucks!
Credit is due to Mplayer. It works really nicely on the Mac and has crashed only once or twice so far.
So, yes. this kind of sucks.
May 17th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Here is a tip…. why don’t you try installing things that run naturally on OSX (OOo, devs fault, not Apple).
VLC works fine and dandy for me, nice adn fast and smooth… not sure what your problem is.
You are right about QT, you need the pro version, but the reg keys are so easy to find that it shouldn’t be a problem.
As to your trashcan problem, the same way you delete files (Command (apple key) + Delete) if you highlight what nyou want in your trashcan and do that it will just delete that one file. (Shift + Command + Delete in any finder window will ask you if you are sure you want to empty your trash just as an FYI).
Dashboard is very slow when first opening (especially with low amounts of RAM) I tend to open it as soon as boot is done adn then close it right away, that way when I need it is already opened and ready to go.
No, I don’t like Safari either, and I have the same stalling problem on Debian, XP, Vista and OSX that you are reporting, so I think that is still a Ffx issue with handling open tabs and Javascript.
You have to remember that OSX is not, nor will ever be Windows, things are different, the quicker you are to realize and accept that the better your experience will be. Both have short commings nad both have high spots… that is why I tend to run Parallels all the time on my MBP.
May 17th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
1. Agree partically. I also had the same problems. But this is because of to little RAM. When I updated my RAM, Firefox worked wonderful
Safari isn’t as good as Firefox, but it isn’t bad. It is one of the fastest and most standard complaint browsers. Just compare it to IE
2. OpenOffice and Neooffice is just bad. I agree there. But Apple has something called Pages, which works really well. Microsoft will also release Office 2008 for mac really soon.
3. RAM again.
4. You are not supposed to store things in the trash. It is just meant as a protection layer to prevent you from accidentially deleting files.
5. Yeah, you need Quicktime Pro for watching full screen. Just use this serial:
Username: Apple Retail
Key: 6YX4-ZJTG-UZET-AYFT-ENUF
6. VLC works perfect for me. Are you sure you are running the newest version?
May 17th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
1. Agree partically. I also had the same problems. But this is because of to little RAM. When I updated my RAM, Firefox worked wonderful
Safari isn’t as good as Firefox, but it isn’t bad. It is one of the fastest and most standard complaint browsers. Just compare it to IE
2. OpenOffice and Neooffice is just bad. I agree there. But Apple has something called Pages, which works really well. Microsoft will also release Office 2008 for mac really soon.
3. RAM again.
4. You are not supposed to store things in the trash. It is just meant as a protection layer to prevent you from accidentially deleting files.
5. Yeah, you need Quicktime Pro for watching full screen.
6. VLC works perfect for me. Are you sure you are running the newest version?
May 17th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Upgrade your ram and it should resolve alot of your issues. I have a Black Macbook with a 2.0 Ghz Intel, 2 Gigs o’ Ram and I have none of these issues. I would suggests 1 gb of ram minimum.
May 18th, 2007 at 3:30 am
thank you for the detailed replies.
I figured that adding RAM might sort out quite a few of these issues. Of course, an OS that asks me if I want to empty my entire trashcan when I hit Shift+Apple+Del on a single file has issues that RAM can’t help.
Thanks for the key kris33! It works perfectly
Anyway, I’m gonna install Ubuntu on this machine to see how things go!
May 18th, 2007 at 5:08 am
Seriously. Get more RAM. OS X loves the ram. 512 is not even approaching enough to be able to really run more than 1 or 2 apps at a time. Just get more ram.
I run a 2.16 Core Duo with 2 GB of ram (MBP) and my firefox rarely crashes with sometimes 80+ tabs in 3 or 4 windows (with videos running in some of them) and itunes in the background + VLC.
The moral of the story is basically feed OS X more RAM.
1. Ram. Both Safari and Firefox are horrible about eating all your Ram, get more.
2. Yeah, OOo really sucks. Not just on a Mac, it just sucks.
3. Dashboard is slow and worthless, think of it as a fun distraction for about 10 seconds.
4. Why are you saving anything in your trash can? If you don’t want to delete things in the trash can, take them out, and don’t put them in the trash can in the first place. Really. It’s just that simple.
5. Use the pirated serial and get perian.
6. The newest version of VLC doesn’t crash nearly as often.
May 20th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
[…] Buying a new MacBook or MacBook Pro can bring some issues to your life. There is a guy, who has several pains using his new MacBook. […]
May 20th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I thought I’d never use a browser other than firefox after using it in windows and linux but, Safari really is the best browser for mac, use it for a week and combined with Inquisitor and ForgetMeNot plugins you can’t beat it.
Never used OOo but have used iWork and MS Office without issue (entourage sucks)
Dashboard is shit. It will always be shit. I rarely use it but when I do I turn it on and off via Quicksilver and some applescript to save memory for the MAJORITY of the time I want to use resources on my computer for productive things.
Get real saving things in your trashcan… Use another folder.
Quicktime sucks! use VLC.
VLC is the same on every platform. There is a bug registered for VLC where it does crash when in using the fullscreen controller. Turn it off in preferences/interface/uncheck full screen controller. Hasen’t crashed on me since and is a simple fix until they get around to it.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I hear ya… i’ve been on the same MacBook as you for 1.5 years. here’s my answers for you:
Browser — use Firefox w/out the google toolbar. I just found that ‘fix’ a few weeks ago and firefox is now much more stable. If you still want that functionality (to some degree) use Googlebar firefox plugin. I never use Safari.
Dashboard — why use it? the widgets are really no big deal
Trashcan ? Buy PathFinder from Cocoatech — better than finder by far, and a lot of other nice things too (better trash included). Don’t forget Onyx either for system tweaks/maintenance.
Qucktime ?? VLC all the way, i don’t know what your problem w/ that is…
at least buy a 1GB stick, for like $45 to add to the 512MB
May 21st, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Ummm … my suggestion.
Next time, listen to your room-mate from the beginning, go for a humble Dell with Windows XP Home … and save yourself the pains of experimenting with a mac … muhuhahaha
But seriously, I think one of the reasons Vista is going to be painful is that its gonna be bloated up with cool “Mac OSX” features … like widgets, and transparency etc etc
Those features are real nice for the first few days … but when they start affecting stability and speed … I can see myself throwing my computer down the balcony.