Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject: Should I upgrade?
I have a Mac Mini single processor with only 512 MB of RAM. My current version of NeoOffice, 2.0, opens very slowly and runs a little slowly though acceptably.
According the NeoOffice web site, 2.1 requires 512 MB of RAM, just for the program. In 2.0, opening a spreadsheet that takes 52K on disk uses about 125 MB of RAM when it's running.
Wouldn't 2.1 be a dog on my little machine? If not, why not? What the advantages to it.
I have found that with a lot of software, both commercial and free, that each successive version is an improvement up to a point, beyond that it just becomes bloatware. Sometimes with software it eventually becomes time to say "It's finished."
In my experience, 2.1 is signifcantly faster to launch and to quit than 2.0 was. I am using this on two machines: a 1.33 gHz iBook G4 and a 400 mHz G4 desktop. It's quicker on both machines than 2.0 was. The user interface looks much, much better. Thus far it has been very stable and a pleasrue to use.
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject:
2.0 AB 3 (and all earlier versions) will no longer be maintained or updated. They contain known bugs that are fixed in 2.1 and later releases.
The choice is of course up to you but be aware, if you stick with earlier versions you'll have to live with whatever bugs they have and any complaints about problems in them will fall on deaf ears.
Joined: Nov 21, 2005 Posts: 1285 Location: Witless Protection Program
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject: Re: Should I upgrade?
HerrM wrote:
I have a Mac Mini single processor with only 512 MB of RAM. My current version of NeoOffice, 2.0, opens very slowly and runs a little slowly though acceptably.
Wouldn't 2.1 be a dog on my little machine? If not, why not? What the advantages to it.
I have found that with a lot of software, both commercial and free, that each successive version is an improvement up to a point, beyond that it just becomes bloatware.
Sometimes with software it eventually becomes time to say "It's finished."
Welcome to NeoOffice (2.1) HerrM,
2.1 has quite a few improvements - lots of java and bug fixes, much improved screen refreshs, Akua icons, and more. These are improvements and not ... bloat.
It will still be ... slower with 512 MB.
I find that less that 1 GB can cause NeoOffice suffer some additional slowdowns.
These are NOT re-versions to just add more features. Many of the NeoOffice updates are long planed improvements. Even the use of Java has been reduced as native functions of Mac OS are implemented ( native file menus, fonts and more, IIRC).
Funny thing is that it seems changes to OOo code to improve use on Windows can cause problems for other platforms. (memory management, pre-loading, graphics refresh, fonts, and others - IIRC)
What will happen in the future - hard to tell but 2.1 is worth the effort today.
I think you will find that 2.1 is a great improvement over 2.0 Beta. Thanks to all the testing, Neo is running much better. It may never be the fastest Office Suite, but I like to think that it is the best Free, full featured, document compatible, Office Suite available for the Mac today. YMMV
I would suggest you try it - I think you WILL like it.
It may even be faster in some cases!
Philip ( For the value, I can wait a few seconds for advance features. It's still faster than I can ... type )
Joined: Jan 04, 2005 Posts: 36 Location: Planet Earth
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:04 am Post subject:
I'll echo what Tim Mac said. I find NeoOffice 2.1 runs significantly faster than 2.0 Aqua Beta 3 did on my G4 iMac (800mhz processor, 1GB of RAM).
If you can afford to do so, You might want to consider upgrading your RAM. It's simplest and most cost-effective way to improve the performance of your computer, as well as extend its useful life.
I only have 512 mb of ram and I find 2.1 faster to load. Once it has loaded it feels the same as 2.0b3- not significantly faster but certainly no slower. I would recommend upgrading. Maybe you could hold on to the installer for b3 and reinstall that if you are not happy.
I am totally sick of having so little ram as I am guessing you are. For me it's just a matter of convincing my better half that I need more ram more than she needs new shoes and then I'll be buying at least another gig!
In the product requirements, "512 MB RAM" really means your Mac needs to have 512 MB, not that Neo needs 512 MB all to itself.
512 is really the bare minimum required to run Mac OS X and a few lightweight apps these days If you can get yourself another 512 at minimum, your whole Mac will feel much faster
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
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(memory management, pre-loading, graphics refresh, fonts, and others - IIRC)
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