# Speed Up OS X!!!! (with smoking weed)



## ScottW (Jun 20, 2001)

Okay guys... I swear I am not smoking anything... word from my developer friend in Sweden is that if you download (140mb) DevTools 1.01 from Apple's http://connect.apple.com site, you will see a 50% increase in speed.

Well, anything is better than what it is today right? Well, I downloaded it (in 11 minutes mind you) and installed it... (I think it took longer)...

And w/o a restart... (typical unix foundation stuff) my machine was whizzing along... in fact, it was speeding up before the install was even finish.

For example... right now, I can take my IE 5.01 and drag it around my screen without any slowness or "dragging".... it kicks butt. I take the scroller and roll it up and down, super fast, w/o any slowness.

In fact, 50% is conservative in numbers... I haven't tested program launching results (give me a sec....) okay... GET THIS FOLKS... I say, have a 200% increase in speed or more.


System Prefs opens in a matter of 2 seconds flat, no more screwing around for 10 seconds to load...

This is on my G4/500 w/ 256k RAM.... 

Maybe, JUST MAYBE... I can start using Mac OS X on a regular basis. I will continue to test this out... as anyone else seen or heard of this? I have been busy programming lately (web stuff) and haven't been in the loop on all the latest scoop on DevTools 1.01 results.

Admin


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## ScottW (Jun 20, 2001)

I can EVEN TYPE....

And it shows up ON THE SCREEN before I hit the keyboard... okay... its not that fast... but no delay!!!!!!!

Apple! I LOVE YOU!

Admin


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## tismey (Jun 20, 2001)

Is it possible to get this download without being a member? I don't think I properly qualify as a 'Developer' yet (I'm just tinkering and finding my feet), but a speed increase sounds good!


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## AdmiralAK (Jun 20, 2001)

You can signup to be an ADC online member, so you can get em, no charge.


I got em, and my system seems a little faster (maybe its perception), but interface & project builders donw work


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## rharder (Jun 20, 2001)

So this is more than just magic. The new developer tools are "Mac OS X Developer Tools 10.0.1". Perhaps that .1 means a lot.

-Rob


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## aidanblest (Jun 20, 2001)

Hi there,

Have done the same on my iBook 2001 with 384 megs
of ram and I'd say it slowed down around 50% ;-(


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## Tigger (Jun 20, 2001)

I did not get any speedgain, either.
At least, it is not slower.

Maybe only G4 get a speed gain... I got a B/W G3 450


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## ulrik (Jun 20, 2001)

I just finished downloading the Dev 10.0.1 and I will install it soon, but I have a different question: Does anyone have enough knowledge of the Aqua Interface to tell me wether the drawing routines utilize the AltiVec Engine or not?
We all know how damn fast Vector based operations can get with the Altivec (just take Photoshop under 9.1 and remove the AltiVec plugin, run some filters, replug it, run them again....I have a major speed gain) si I'd like to know why my Cube still get's slow once I minimize a window or once I resize it...my G4 at work does it without any slowing down...maybe it's the second processor...


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## ulrik (Jun 20, 2001)

I just installed the Developer package and even after a restart I can't notice any speed gain! Still the same sluggish window resizing, dragging and minimizing. Still long application starting times.

ulrik


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## ulrik (Jun 20, 2001)

OK...just checked Project Builder...loaded the Java app I am working on. Got a Kernel Panic during compilation (compiled fine under Dev Tools 1.0) and now my whole MacOS X system doesn't boot. Sticks at the Mac symbol without the typical spinning disc. No chance. Just reinstalled MacOS 10.0.3 from the CD...still, system dead. 9.1 works. Hmm...


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## ScottW (Jun 20, 2001)

Sorry to hear all the problems caused folks...

My system still is running faster... it wasn't the weed I swear. Also, I have heard additional reports from my Mac circle that indeed... they also have noticed a speed increase. 

Admin


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## ulrik (Jun 20, 2001)

Have you installed it on 10.0.3?
Or on some earlier build? (since your reported that you haven't used X as your primary OS till now). I know that  there was a major speed increase for me from 10.0.0 to 10.0.1
Still wondering...let's see what it will do to my Cube at home. At the moment, I am fixing my work machine  Can't imagine how people pay 500$ to do that all the time ;P


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## ScottW (Jun 20, 2001)

Hello,

Running 10.0.3 when I installed it.  Still zipping along. 

Admin


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## endian (Jun 20, 2001)

> The new developer tools are "Mac OS X Developer Tools 10.0.1". Perhaps that .1 means a lot.



It's mostly bug fixes. Read the release notes.


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## sithious (Jun 20, 2001)

hmmm... i don't quite get it ... why should installing dev tools speed up the entire system?
i don't have the tools installed at all so far, as i don't plan on doing any developing ... 
it just seems weird that installing them should speed stuff up... 
or am i misunderstanding something?


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## tismey (Jun 20, 2001)

Tis something to do with the 'linking and optimising library calls' apparently. I know installing the first set of Devtools from CD speeded my system up. I'm a bit dubious of loading the new one now though, after ulrik's hassles...


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## sithious (Jun 20, 2001)

so if i install them, do i have to then do anything special to speed up the system or does it just happen by itself?


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## mr_mac_x (Jun 20, 2001)

Is this speed gain on top of the speed gain from installing the Developer Tools that came with OS X? I already have that installed, and it gave me a little speed boost... Does DT 10.0.1 help on top of DT 10.0?It's probably just the System Optimization; even if it's been optimized before, installing and removing apps would invalidate the Optimization it's already done, therefore it must be done again...


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## pr9000 (Jun 20, 2001)

doesn't anyone remember this from long ago? after OS X was released some people installed the dev tools and got a speed boost. it was discovered that the install did an update_prebinding command which brought the spped increase.

maybe this is that again?


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## AdmiralAK (Jun 20, 2001)

I LOVE THE BOMB.APP 

It's cool in a simple way


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## Matrix Agent (Jun 20, 2001)

Wow, OS X IS FLYING! 
Mail in two bounces!
Ominweb in three!
The delay opening a new finder window is almost completely gone!
Menus almost as snappy as OS 9!
Nice window movement, but resizing has not improved.
Column view is much faster, opens a 500 file column instantaneously!

Could this have something to do with that fact that I am running
10.0.4? (Shh!)
Anyone else here running it?
Wow! XP is gonna die!


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## ulrik (Jun 21, 2001)

First:
Installed it on my Cube yesterday evening, MacOS 10.0.3, DevTool 10.0, and I got a major speed gain and NO crashed system! 

Second:
I am running update_prebinding twice a week and this is NOT what made the speed gain. In fact, every update of MacOS X makes an update_prebinding...if you dislike the console, get XOptimize, it does it for you, else, type update_prebinding -verbose -root / (IIRC...verbose is not needed, but it gives you a status of how it's going on)
It helps a bit.
But this speed gain is more of a graphical speed increase. Cool!

Third: Could anyone with a little bit of Unix knowledge help me? I am using the pop up menu from my HDD in the dock quite often, like the Windows (Buuuh) start menu, but at home, I only have a ATA drive, no SCSI, and it always takes a second the FIRST TIME I open a folder over the pop up menu. The following times, it goes very fast. Is it possible to somehow preload the content of the disc at startup? I would even wait a minute at startup to get a faster response from the pop up during later use of the system (I am only restarting my Mac maybe twice a week since I am doing much video capturing and encoding, so my Mac runs 24/7 mostly

fourth: Apart from the problems at work, I can only suggest the DevTools. My I ask if the people who got a speed increase are also using a Radeon card? Maybe new Radeon drivers?

five: the bomb app is an app which should demonstrate that a crashing application won't affect the system or other apps. So it's not only a toy 

ulrik


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## rharder (Jun 21, 2001)

I think the problem with the delayed Dock openings in the Dock itself--it doesn't preload anything, though it would be nice if it did.

-Rob


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## ulrik (Jun 21, 2001)

I doubt that for the following reason or behaviour:

I boot up OS X, then I open the pop-up menu of one of my harddisks in the dock. Not only does the "root" take about two or three seconds to load, every folder I open takes a few seconds. As I told, this only happens once. If I open the same pop-up menu later, it pops up very fast. 

Now, to illustrate what I mean:
I boot up OS X, then I open the harddisk from the icon on my desktop. I browse through some folders. Now I open the pop up menu from the dock. The folders I already visited in the finder open fast, the others take time to load! I have no big knowledge about how OS X works deep within the kernel, but this behaviour gives me the impression that OS X some kind of creates a real time TOC during it's run, which it accesses once a harddisk access is requested (pop up menu, finder window etc.) so it would be cool of Mac OS X could create this TOC, as I call it, at boot up. I guess this isn't done to prevent the system taking up too much RAM for such stuff, but I have 1024 MB installed at the moment (I love the prices for RAM in germany at the moment  and I could spent a bit of it for such an option.
So after all, to me it doesn't seem like a "problem" in the dock app but in the drive routines structure of the system.

Anyway, if anyone can understand what I mean (thanx to my bad english) and hears anything about such an option, maybe a terminal command, please let me know! 

btw:
does sherlock indexing have anything to do with it or is this indexing purely for sherlock?

ulrik


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## sithious (Jun 21, 2001)

so will installing dev tools boost my system's speed by itself or do i have to do a new update? i'm currently running 10.0.3 ...
anyone have an idea when 10.0.4 or maybe even 10.1 is coming?
thanks!


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## ulrik (Jun 21, 2001)

just install it, no update needed (or possible of your run 10.0.3)

I heard that 10.0.4 is currently seeded to the ADC seeding members. I heard something of around 14 megs of size, DVD capability...yet I heard nothing about a CD burning app (besides of iTunes)

Nobody knows when 10.1 will be released. there are different release dates floating around the net but I am quite sure that most of them are just there to attract some attention. 

ulrik


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## Matrix Agent (Jun 21, 2001)

mosr.com just said that 10.0.4 will be out within a matter of days.

Bur really? Who knows?
Wasn't that supposed to come out about a month ago?


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## peppermg (Jun 21, 2001)

As with the first developer package and any OS X update, all its doing is updating the prebindings. (i could explain this but im sure someone else has done it already alot better than i could). There is a simple terminal command to do this and you don't have to download the developer package. But i forgot it right now give me a few mins and ill post the command. (im at work and its time to go =) and 10.0.4 was just released) brb...


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## ulrik (Jun 22, 2001)

update_prebinding is the command. another one is redo_prebinding, but I noticed that even update "redos" all...at least for me.
Two options you should consider is "-verbose" so you can see what's going on at the moment and the root from where it should start. just execute it from the root with the option "-root /" and there you go. So the complete command would be

update_prebinding -verbose -root /

ulrik


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## peppermg (Jun 22, 2001)

sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root /


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## ulrik (Jun 22, 2001)

not for me, I am constantly working as root 
just solves so many problems with access rights 

but for the "non-root" rest, that's true


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## Mr_Frost (Jun 22, 2001)

10.0.4 is here through software update now but I haven't seen any increases in speed. Maybe slightly faster launching times but it could be my imagination.
No DVD support either !


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## tismey (Jun 23, 2001)

Installed 10.0.4 last night, and Devtools update this morning, and app launching seems faster - Omniweb launched in less than 10 bounces (that said, I relaunched it a second ago and it was back to its usual 20-odd bounces ). Can't say the finder feels any faster, but if it's going to speed up launch times, that's good enough for me...


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## Fahrvergnuugen (Jun 25, 2001)

The first time you install the Dev tools, it prebinds all of your applications, making them faster [the optimization step of install]. Did you simply update your dev tools? Or was this the first time you installed them?


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## tismey (Jun 26, 2001)

...from the original DevTools that came with OSX. and there's a definite speed improvement,  although not a consistent one. Omniweb, for example, can sometimes be as fast as 4 bounces, but sometimes can take as long as it always did (20-odd)

Weird, but at least it's faster most of the time...


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## twister (Jun 26, 2001)

Ok after skimming thru all the posts i have a quick question....  I dont have Developers tools installed anywhere on my machine that i know of.  So to get speed increase i should install them off the cd that came with osX and then update that version?  This will make me speedy and happy? 

I'm on a G3 350 with 10.0.4

Twister


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## midimax (Jun 26, 2001)

I installed 10.0.1 developer tools and got omniweb in 15 bounces instead of 20, and mail in 3, then I ran X optimize and took omniweb down to 6 bounces and mail to a bounce and a half. Man it really works!!!


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## ezra (Jun 26, 2001)

> _Originally posted by twister _
> *Ok after skimming thru all the posts i have a quick question....  I dont have Developers tools installed anywhere on my machine that i know of.  So to get speed increase i should install them off the cd that came with osX and then update that version?  This will make me speedy and happy?
> 
> I'm on a G3 350 with 10.0.4
> ...



From what I can tell users are just eperienceing the Optimization proccess, and you don't need to install DevTools to do that. I would just go to www.versiontracker.com, and download XOptimize, and run it as the root user, and you will mostlikely get tbe same speed improvements. If you have a lot of RAM select to use more RAM, and X runs really fast.


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## ezra (Jun 26, 2001)

> _Originally posted by ezra _
> *
> 
> From what I can tell users are just eperienceing the Optimization proccess, and you don't need to install DevTools to do that. I would just go to www.versiontracker.com, and download XOptimize, and run it as the root user, and you will mostlikely get tbe same speed improvements. If you have a lot of RAM select to use more RAM, and X runs really fast.My system has always been optimized so it's been nice so far using X. FWIW I'll install the Dev Tools, and see if it really does anything. *


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## endian (Jun 26, 2001)

I guess there must be something to this Dev Tools thing - I haven't run OSX without them since they came out in October, and I've had no complaints at all about OSX's speed.


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## peppermg (Jun 26, 2001)

Close all your apps, open the terminal and type in "sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root / " Enter your password and press return. This takes awhile so be patient. This will speed up MacOS X slightly, it is doing just what it does when you update to a new version or install the dev tools. Note: Xoptimize  is a GUI front end to this command so there is no need to download it.


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## ezra (Jun 26, 2001)

> _Originally posted by peppermg _
> *Close all your apps, open the terminal and type in "sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root / " Enter your password and press return. This takes awhile so be patient. This will speed up MacOS X slightly, it is doing just what it does when you update to a new version or install the dev tools. Note: Xoptimize  is a GUI front end to this command so there is no need to download it. *



True, but the average Mac user will probably feel more comfortable using a util for this.


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## twister (Jun 26, 2001)

ok so i installed developer tools for the first time off the CD and i dont notice any difference.  whats up with that?

twister


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## peppermg (Jun 27, 2001)

It doesn't really speed anything up. Im guessing that you upgraded to 10.0.4 and when you do that it does "sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root /" When you installed the Dev tools it does the same thing. Since you had already just done it you will not see a speed increase.


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## tismey (Jun 27, 2001)

I did....0.4 didn't seem to add much speed. but devtools? wow. immediately noticeable.


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## twister (Jun 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by ezra _
> *
> 
> From what I can tell users are just eperienceing the Optimization proccess, and you don't need to install DevTools to do that. I would just go to www.versiontracker.com, and download XOptimize, and run it as the root user, and you will mostlikely get tbe same speed improvements. If you have a lot of RAM select to use more RAM, and X runs really fast. *



So how do i select more RAM?  There wasn't a memory control pannel that i saw.


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## ezra (Jun 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by twister _
> *
> 
> So how do i select more RAM?  There wasn't a memory control pannel that i saw. *



Use XOptimize, you can download it from www.versiontracker.com .


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## peppermg (Jun 27, 2001)

"I did....0.4 didn't seem to add much speed. but devtools? wow. immediately noticeable. "

Which ever you installed first will give you the "speed" increase. The 2nd one installed is just doing what the first did and you won't notice any increase because you already updated the prebinding.


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## tismey (Jun 27, 2001)

Peppermg - You seem remarkably certain about what happened on MY system, despite the fact that*I* installed 10.0.4, *I* noticed no difference in speed, *I* installed devtools a day or so later, and *I* noticed an increase in speed, and you were nowhere to be seen...

I appreciate that you probably know a great deal more than I do about the foundations/principles/whatever to OSX, cos I know next to nothing about it, but I can categorically say that _MY MACHINE HAS BEEN FASTER SINCE I INSTALLED THE DEVTOOLS UPDATE_. I'm not trying to explain WHY, just agreeing with the post that Admin started this thread with.

It may not fit in with what you perceive to be the  actual under-the-bonnet effects that this install had, and it may not tally with all that you know and hold dear, but I think it's fairly cocky of you to insist that I (or Twister) WON'T notice any speed increase. Because I did. So there.


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## ulrik (Jun 28, 2001)

OK guys, I am using update_prebinding -verbose -root / since 10.0.0 nearly every day and I noticed a speed increase, especially in scrolling and typing after installing the Devtools 10.0.1 (and I had installed 10.0) so stop telling me that the speed gain comes from the prebinding. Startup times are improved by prebinding, but the scrolling speed and for example the genie effect have nothing to do with updated prebindings of libraries and applications, and they are definitely faster than before. Pre-Dev 10.0.1, the genie effekt on my Cube most often just played three or four frames, now it is a soft, liquid motion into the dock. 

ulrik


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## ezra (Jun 29, 2001)

> _Originally posted by ulrik _
> *OK guys, I am using update_prebinding -verbose -root / since 10.0.0 nearly every day and I noticed a speed increase, especially in scrolling and typing after installing the Devtools 10.0.1 (and I had installed 10.0) so stop telling me that the speed gain comes from the prebinding. Startup times are improved by prebinding, but the scrolling speed and for example the genie effect have nothing to do with updated prebindings of libraries and applications, and they are definitely faster than before. Pre-Dev 10.0.1, the genie effekt on my Cube most often just played three or four frames, now it is a soft, liquid motion into the dock.
> 
> ulrik
> *



OK, I've had DevTools installed for two days now, and I too OPtimize my machine all the time. My general impression is that it does speed up your interface a bit. If you prebind your system often, it's not as noticable, but if you don't, it's much more noticable. Thanks for the tip!


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## twister (Jun 29, 2001)

i downloaded Xoptimize and ran it last night and see little to no difference.


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## ezra (Jun 29, 2001)

> _Originally posted by twister _
> *i downloaded Xoptimize and ran it last night and see little to no difference. *



If you installed DevTools or 10.0.4 recently it has probably already pre-binded/optimized your system. If you choose "use more mem" and don't have a lot of extra RAM, you won't see much of a speed up either. The "Use more mem" option works best for machines with 512MB of RAM and UP.


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## Untitled (Jul 12, 2001)

???? 
I just tried "sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root/" as an administrative User (not the root user) and I recieved a chilling message

---------
We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these two things:

        #1) Respect the privacy of others.
        #2) Think before you type.
---------

Well, that was enough to stop me for now...
Could someone please tell me why this happened?

Did I get this message because:
		#1) I was not logged on as the root user or..
		#2) I have IE 5.1 installed on my computer.

It seems something like this is always built into the Mac OS (not that this is a bad thing, it's quite funny in fact.)

I have included another warning that I received many times running OS 9 in an attachment. I would also appreciate if someone could tell me why this message popped up. (I usually received the message while in AppleWorks 5.0)


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## vanguard (Jul 12, 2001)

You got that message because you ran the sudo command.  I get it at work sometimes too.

The idea is that you are running commands as somebody else so they give you a message as if you were invading somebody's privacy.  I always think that it's a dumb message because it's contanstly falsely accusing people like you and me.

Anyway, that message is no reason to stop what you're doing.


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## Untitled (Jul 13, 2001)

Thanks, that solves my concerns, now onto my next question,

There is a way to run mac os x without the GUI (graphics user interface) by typing in ">console" as the user name in the login screen. 
My question is if you update the prebinding with the command "sudo update_prebinding -verbose -root/" will it "prebind faster or better" since the finder is not activated?

food for thought...


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## vanguard (Jul 14, 2001)

Having finder open (or closed) shouldn't have any effect on the results of prebinding.

In a nutshell, this is what prebinding is all about.

Most applications make calls to shared libraries.  These libraries contain code for common functions.  Things like accessing files, writing output to the screen, etc.

When an application starts, the OS has to make sure that all the dependent libraries are in memory.  It also has to know where in the memory those libraries are.

Prebinding is a way of making a note of where those libraries are (or are going to be) so that your app doesn't have to go looking around for them as it starts up.

Installing dev tools *might* install faster versions of these libraries.  I don't know.  I can't see why it would update prebinding if it didn't change the libraries.  That could explain the speed difference that people are seeing.

One final note, using normal observation and computer use to see if something is faster is notorious for producing lousy results.  As a developer, I've sped up application operations from 30 to 15 seconds only to hear my user report, "Nope, it's still slow."  I've done things that shouldn't make it any faster at all and received praise for making it faster.

The truth is, if you want to know if it's "really" faster you should have before and after times, you should test under identical conditions, and you should use a reliable timer.  Everything else is subject to the operator's mood, the amount of free memory, etc.

Ok, now I'm just droning on.   If anybody would like to correct a mistake in what I said (or simply comment) feel free.  I'm always willing to learn.

Vanguard


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