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    Leopard vs Vista performance

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by MBP_Admirer, Jan 9, 2008.

  1. MBP_Admirer

    MBP_Admirer Notebook Enthusiast

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    1. Does Leopard have a higher memory usage than Vista?

    2. Is Leopard responsive and work flawlessly on 1GB RAM Macbooks?

    3. Is it necessary to go for a 2GB RAM upgrade on Macbook (for Leopard) for normal home use (browsing, chat, office apps, movies and music)?

    -Thanks
     
  2. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    1. I would say no, Leopard does not use as much RAM as Vista with Aero does.

    2. From what I've heard, Leopard has no issues running on MacBooks with 1 GB of RAM, as long as you're not using it with more RAM-intensive things as well, such as with Adobe Photoshop or iTunes Cover Flow, which will slow it down a bit.

    3. I'd say its not necessary, but it wouldn't hurt, as more RAM means applications run smoother, everything is faster and RAM is so cheap nowadays.
     
  3. Arquis

    Arquis Kojima Worshiper

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    1. No
    2. Yes
    3. No (for the OS, but depending on how demanding the apps you are running are it may be wise to go with 2GB if say, you do a lot of editing and graphic work.)
     
  4. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    What he said. You can easily run MS office, surf the web, play music all with 1GB of RAM.
     
  5. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

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    Plus, upgrading memory to 2 gb is relatively cheap nowadays. I did it for just $27.
     
  6. thnksfrthmmrs

    thnksfrthmmrs Notebook Evangelist

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    Wow. For 1gb x2? That's awfully cheap.
     
  7. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    That is a very good price for a pair of 1gb stix :eek: There are a ton of deals to be had on the internet these days.
     
  8. Arquis

    Arquis Kojima Worshiper

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    Well IMO you shouldn't buy a Macbook with more than the base amount of RAM, because it's much cheaper to upgrade it yourself if you buy RAM from newegg.com
     
  9. cashmonee

    cashmonee Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    With today's apps, it is not only the OS you have to worry about. Both Safari and Firefox will routinely eat up more than 100MB of memory on their own. iTunes usually take around 75. Even though it seems Leopard will run fine on 1 GB (never tried it myself), I would invest in another gig. It is cheap, and you will use it.
     
  10. fan of laptop

    fan of laptop Notebook Evangelist

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    Is it necessary to go for a 2GB RAM upgrade on Macbook (for Leopard) for normal home use (browsing, chat, office apps, movies and music)?------this is traditional pc thinking. They thought that vista is a memory-eating machine and they assume that leopard also does this.
    Leopard can run perfectly well on 1G memory macbook.
     
  11. Eallan

    Eallan Notebook Consultant

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    Safari is using 480mb of memory for me.

    Out of my web browsing, chat, and mail being open i have 865mb free out of 2gb.
     
  12. Modly

    Modly Warranty Voider

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    Until I got my extra sticks two days ago, I was using just 1GB on my new G5 for a week. I'm running Leopard, and usually have a dozen apps open and running. It was pokier at doing what I needed than I'd prefer, but it'll work.

    Keep in mind I'm using stuff that wants memory, so just to get online and do email you'll be fine. It wouldn't hurt to jump up your RAM though, because it's so cheap.