NeoOffice running really slow

[goatgirl92]

Hello,
I bought a NeoOffice cd for my mac computer about a month ago. I bought the cd because my mac isn't connected to the internet. I installed it and it ran incredibly slow. So I deleted all my music files and pictures, and it still runs really slow. Is there anyway I can speed it up? My Mac is a PowerBook G3.
Thanks for your help.
goatgirl92

[ovvldc]

[goatgirl92]

Does my mac have to be connected to the internet to install the patch? or can I download it on my pc and then save it and put it on my mac?

[Orgleser]

You should be able to dl by pc and then move to the mac. You get a .dmg file by dl.

[sardisson]

Also check out the notes in the wiki about common causes of slow or lackluster performance.

A PowerMac G3 is pretty long in the tooth, so I doubt NeoOffice would ever be really snappy on it , but checking for any of the above, plus the latest patches and more RAM will help some.

Smokey

[toonetown]

I can also validate what has been said previously about "get more RAM". That is probably the single most important thing you can do (and 512, though reccommended, is still not quite enough.)

I had 512 on a powerbook G3, and neooffice was usable - but still quite slow. Especially on startup. I found that the X11 version of OpenOffice was MUCH faster (nearly 10 times - but I didn't get actualy measurements). Naturally, I started out using OO, and didn't want to try NeoOffice after that experience.

My work decided to upgrade me to 1.5GB RAM, so I decided to give NeoOffice a try again - and the difference was astonishing! It now starts up faster than the X11 verision of OO...so I'm using it now instead.

Once again - get more RAM - NeoOffice is quite fast if there is enough memory for it to run.

-Nathan

[goatgirl92]

Sorry, I am kinda computer stupid esp when it comes to Macs. How do I add more RAM? If I get more RAM, do I still need the patch? I had OO on it, but it wouldn't run becuase my computer doesn't have X11.

[toonetown]

There are lots of places that you can order more RAM.

Personally, I order from crucial http://www.crucial.com - but only because they offer free shipping, and I happen to live close enough that I get it overnight (overnight free shipping is good...)

You can also check out at http://store.apple.com

In both of those cases, you'll need to enter in specifics about what powerbook you have.

You can expect to spend between $100 and $200 for 1GB of RAM (US Dollars)

Your memory will fit in slots in your computer - you probably have two slots (depending on the model of powerbook that you have - if you post what speed, screen size, etc, and possibly the model number off the bottom of the laptop, I can help out a little more...). One of those slots is probably already filled. If you buy a "Kit", you usually will get two memory chips - so if you get a "1 GB Kit", you will get 2 chips - each one will be 1/2 GB (512 MB - which is probably close to what you already have). You would be better off to get a single chip.

You can find out exactly what type of memory you have right now by going to "Apple | About this Mac | More Info... | Memory". I'm not at my mac right now, so I don't remember exactly how to get to the "Memory" portion above - but it's somewhere in the screen that comes up after you choose "More Info...". That screen (the memory screen) will tell you how many slots you have, and what memory is available in each slot. If you want to post what is shown on that screen, I can help you out a little better as well.

As far as actually installing the memory goes, it's fairly easy - but it involves opening up your computer to do so. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, you might want to enlist the help of your friendly neighborhood "geek" or "nerd". Instructions on how to do this can also be found at apple's website. http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/PowerBookG4_17inch1.67GHzUserGuide.pdf is where the instructions for my powerbook are located - your model might be slightly different, but you can find it in the same place...

Again - if you post a bit more information about your machine, I could help you a bit more.

[toonetown]

A couple of answers to your other questions:

Yes, you probably should still install the patch - even if you get more RAM. That assures you are running the most up-to-date program (and hopefully, the most bug-free).

If you wish to use OpenOffice X11, you can - you just need to install X11. You can do that very easily using the installation CDs that came with your PowerBook. Instructions on how to install X11 can be found at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301229 (if you are running Tiger) or if you are running Panther, you can download and install X11 from http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/x11formacosx.html

[goatgirl92]

I got my laptop off of eBay, so it didn't come with any manuals. I'll try the patch first and if it doesn't work, I can always put more RAM on it. Thanks for you help.

[jakeOSX]

http://everymac.com

that should help you find information on your computer.

do you know what version of powerbook it is? (so i might be able to help with the RAMness)

[goatgirl92]

It just says its a Powerbook G3 with a Mac OSX v. 10.2 operating system. Does that help any?

[Samwise]

Open the Apple Menu (Apple logo found at the top-left of your screen), and in the drop-down menu, click on About This Mac. There you will see three things : which version of Mac OS X you are running (10.2.x), what processor you have (xxx Mhz PowerPC G3) and how much memory you've got (xxx MB SDRAM). It won't tell you which memory you need to buy, but clicking on More Info... will launch System Profiler and give you that information. And even if you can't find it, your processor's clock speed (xxx Mhz) will give us enough info to find out for you.

I would also recommend Crucial, but for other reasons : they offer a lifetime warranty (most vendors do, but not all of them), and they guarantee that any memory purchased through their Memory Advisor Tool will work with the selected computer ...

Since NeoOffice downloads, languages, help files and patches are .dmg disk images, you can download them on your PC, burn them to a CD or store them on a Flash (USB) key (if your PowerBook has got USB ports) and then move them to your Mac & install.

Unfortunately, the latest versions of NeoOffice (1.2.x) use Apple's Java 1.4.x and therefore will not work under Mac OS X 10.2 (10.3 or higher are supported). It means you can't get the latest perfromance patches, and versions of NeoOffice prior to 1.2.2 are affected by a bug in the Mac OS X installer which can have serious consequences (like erasing the entire hard drive). While it seems to only affect specific systems with various language packs installed, it's still there and could harm your system someday (don't worry too much though, the bug only occurs when running the installer, running NeoOffice itself won't cause such an issue - and apparently your original installation went well).

I don't know why you can't connect your PowerBook to the net, but you could post a question regarding this issue on http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa (in the PowerBook G3 or mac OS X 10.2 sections, for example) ...

[goatgirl92]

It's got 64 MB of memory and 400MHz PowerPC G3. My internet provider is a local one and the setup CD they sent me only works on Windows. I just figure I'm not going to mess with it. Plus, I've gotten so many viruses with my PC, I wouldn't want that to happen with my Mac. I have the NeoOffice v. 1.1 If I were to download the patch on my PC, could I save it to floppy disk or a CD and then put it on my Mac?

[pluby]

64 MB of memory? Wow. I am actually surprised that NeoOffice is even usable as we rate the minimum memory requirement as 256 MB for NeoOffice/J 1.1 and 384 for NeoOffice 1.2.x.

Because NeoOffice is a full-blown office suite, it really needs a lot of memory to work. If you don't have much memory (and 64 MB just isn't very much nowadays due to the built in obsolence in computers), Mac OS X will "fake it" and use your hard disk like it was memory. However, reading and writing to a hard disk is many, many times slower than reading and writing to memory so all applications (and Mac OS X itself) will slow down greatly when this happens.

Patrick