OT: Aging Macs

[ThisJustIn]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

 

[speedoo]

My this is a shocking development.

I was under the impression that every Apple product was perfectly user friendly forever. And that I should therefore end my 25 year moratorium on actually owning one again.

 

[Biff]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

Well my knees are sore from years of excessive cycling (and running) and my wife claims that I am often (if not usually) unresponsive. I have a disturbing amount of unaccessible memory files and I'm more ugly every day. Is that a subtle hint I should retire?

 

[ThisJustIn]

My this is a shocking development.

I was under the impression that every Apple product was perfectly user friendly forever. And that I should therefore end my 25 year moratorium on actually owning one again.

Lol what drugs have YOU been taking? Or better, what fluff have you been reading?

And I guess you're still using the same puter you bought 6 years ago?

 

[TRest]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

My 2006 imac was retired last year after getting slower and slower and giving me the spinning color wheel constantly. The "genius" at the apple store told me the hardware just falls way behind the memory needs of the newer systems and browsers. Plus I dropped it on the way in to the mall after slipping on ice and it would no longer power up.

 

[FairView]

Have you tried upgrading the OS to lion? Although I think it had the most problems of any apple OS in recent memory, they have fixed most of them up. Unless of course it is early 2006 and it's pre-intel chips, so you can't upgrade. If that's the case, it's time to make the move. There are some closeout specials on the UConn co-op site.

 

[grizz36]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

I'm still running OS X 10.4 on an older Intel Mac and haven't run into any of the problems you describe. Only the inability to install the latest Flash player that will allow me view ESPN3 anymore. My biggest problem the user is getting older and less responsive.

As for speedoo's sarcasm .... Naw, fergetaboutit! We don't need any disillusioned soreheads destroying our blissful harmony.

 

[ThisJustIn]

My biggest problem the user is getting older and less responsive.

I know THAT feeling!

Actually, it's not that bad -- I'm guessing some has to do with my wireless. The "unresponsive script" is an odd thing -- mostly because when I click "stop script" all is well -- it just takes a while. Sometimes it's here, sometimes at WordPress, sometimes at pogo.....

The poor little beast has traveled all over the United States and to the Middle East -- I'm sure I can baby it for a little while longer. I'll check in to the Lion upgrade -- 'cause now I'm running pussycat.

 

[Fishy]

Obviously, a six-year old computer can have some issues - if you have a copy of the OS, reinstalling it usually speeds things up a bit. You can also try repairing permissions in the system utilities and also running a software update. Any questions on how to do anything, send me PM and I'll write it out.

My wife's MacBook is 2006 as well - I find it slow compared to the four or five newer computers we have in the house, but my wife refuses to abandon it. I do bump her to whatever the latest OS is, though. (You need to go to Snow Leopard before Lion, I believe.)

 

[RoyDodger]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

TJI, have you ever run Repair Disk Permissions on Disk Utility? That's something all Mac users should do regularly, especially after adding, updating, or upgrading software. If you're not sure what I'm talking about check this out:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh17.html

I do it regularly and haven't had problems on my Macs in many years. Can't be certain it will help, but it can't hurt. And you can run other functions on your Mac while Repair Disk Permissions is in progress.

 

[RoyDodger]

Also, you can use Disk Utility to check your hard drive. Recommended.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I read and I obey.

 

[BRS24]

I took my trusty old black MacBook to the apple store last year as I was having issues with crashing Safari and a few other hardware things. The guy was really nice, and admitted that the hardware couldn't keep up with software and that I shoudl use google Chrome. It helped, but in the end, I purchased a new Air.

 

[toadfoot]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

Have you tried OpenOffice? http://www.openoffice.org/

 

[EricLA]

I'm still running OS X 10.4 on an older Intel Mac and haven't run into any of the problems you describe. Only the inability to install the latest Flash player that will allow me view ESPN3 anymore. My biggest problem the user is getting older and less responsive.

As for speedoo's sarcasm .... Naw, fergetaboutit! We don't need any disillusioned soreheads destroying our blissful harmony.

i have the same issue. i think i have OSX 10.5 but i can't download things like Chrome browsers, or even sometimes see embedded videos. and forget about trying to use windows media player...

 

[toadfoot]

Try Flip4Mac.

 

[Sargassoc]

So, is excessive cycling and "unresponsive scripts" (not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx) subtle hints that I should retire my MacBook circa 2006?

Maybe-- or maybe it's a need for speed. Have you maxed out your RAM yet? That would be the first suggestion. . .

 

[Icebear]

And here I thought this thread was about Cathy Rush's former Immaculatta teams.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Actually, you COULD read it that way.. ;-)

 

[Sargassoc]

not to mention OS X 10.4 and a disturbing amount of unopenable documents in the ugly .docx?

Also-- Have you found (and downloaded) Open XML file converter that Microsoft provides for Office 2004 and v. X? That will allow you to open .docx documents. . . . (unless you don't use Word at all).

 

[grizz36]

i have the same issue. i think i have OSX 10.5 but i can't download things like Chrome browsers, or even sometimes see embedded videos. and forget about trying to use windows media player...

Eric, There is a free plugin for Quicktime called Flip4Mac that will allow you view WMP and many of the other wierd media players. Like I said, the only viewing problem I have is the latest Flash no longer supports older Mac OS's.