memory upgrade for powerbook 12"

[myotherpc'samac]

I had to post this because I can't find anywhere where it's been definitively said already...

I'm new to mac, but have been using windows since pre 3.x days, and knew my way around it. WinXp thrives on extra memory, but 256mb would be enough for most people just running office and media player. I wasn't too happy with the way my lovely new powerbook was handling multiple apps, so I upgraded my powerbook 12" memory last night with a kingston 512mb SODIMM, hoping to see a slight improvement in performance when I have several apps open.

Can't believe it! Startup is faster, finder is faster, EVERYTHING is faster. I would have thought that 256mb would have been enough to run the OS alone - but 640mb makes such a huge difference to even the most basic operations. Mac must use RAM very differently (more?) than Windows did...

So if you're thinking about a RAM upgrade for your pbook - categorically, you should do it.

[Giaguara]

i agree! and on older machines that is even more noticeable, if you have a slower machine and can't or don't want to get a new one, more ram makes the difference

[baldprof]

The "RISC" chip (such as the G3 or G4) addresses memory differently from the x86 (intel) chip. So even the "mechanics" are different. OS X (as can all versions of Unix) can basically use all the memory the chip can address. The more memory, the more efficient it can be.

For Win2k and probably XP, the OS really can't fully utilize memory above 512k. I don't know why exactly, but everything I have read has mentioned that fact.

I don't know how linux manages memory so I don't know how extra memory would affect that.

Every computer I have bought, I have always at least doubled the standard amount of memory.