New MacBook Pro! New to Forum! Looking for advice, tips and help!

[dolomite360]

Okay so I just joined this forum, hoping for answers to many questions of mine, so I guess I'll start asking..

I got my MacBook Pro 15" 2.53 GHz about 1 month ago. The operating system when I go to "About This Mac" says Mac OS X 10.5.8. This isn't Snow Leopard is it? I'm guessing I should take the CD of Snow Leopard that came with my Mac and install it. I thought it was already installed. Anyways, yes/no do I need to install it? If it's not installed, I think I will...

**I REALLY NEED TIPS FOR THIS, JUST STUFF I CAN DO REGULARLY TO HELP WITH THE PERFORMANCE AND SPEED? THANKS!** Now I really want to make sure my Mac will always be fast and consistent and not slow down like PC computers. With PCs, you get them and they are great for the first while you have them and they just get super slow after a while. I really want to keep my MacBook Pro fast and safe and clean. Any tips on this? I plan on using it for at least 4 more years. But any tips you have to keep it fast, running well, and all that so in 3 years it won't slow down on me and stay fast like I just got it? I pretty much have all the programs the Mac comes with, just with 3 or 4 additional ones I downloaded from their site. So, your tips?

Also, is this good for boot time and reboot time?
32 seconds average for boot up.
5 seconds for shut down (I have all the programs closed most of the time when I shut it down)

What are boot up and shut down times that aren't really that good so I can compare? Thanks.

For the most part, my Macbook Pro has been really good so far, it sometimes takes long to close programs or if I click something it will bring up that rainbow circle thing as my cursor and will take a little extra time for the Mac to do what I clicked.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[BlueRevolution]

The operating system when I go to "About This Mac" says Mac OS X 10.5.8. This isn't Snow Leopard is it?

Nope, it's plain ol' Leopard. I have no idea why it would've shipped on a new MacBook Pro.

Anyways, yes/no do I need to install it? If it's not installed, I think I will...

Yes. You should be able to use the disks to upgrade. Just be sure that the restore disks say 10.6. If not, you should call Apple.

Any tips on this? I plan on using it for at least 4 more years. But any tips you have to keep it fast, running well, and all that so in 3 years it won't slow down on me and stay fast like I just got it? I pretty much have all the programs the Mac comes with, just with 3 or 4 additional ones I downloaded from their site. So, your tips?

Yes. Plug it in and use it. Macs are designed to run all necessary maintenance automatically. You only use the included utilities when something goes wrong.

Also, is this good for boot time and reboot time?
32 seconds average for boot up.
5 seconds for shut down (I have all the programs closed most of the time when I shut it down)

Looks good to me. Anything under a minute is good.

 

[richard.mac]

Have a look at Snow Leopard on Apple.com. if it interests you then by all means install it. all you have to do is just insert the disc and install, it will do an upgrade right there. i have found that it made my Mac feel noticeably faster and more responsive.

the boot up time of Macs will slow down a little if you install a lot of apps and suites that include processes that load during boot or loading of the desktop. but by and large Macs wont slow down at all, that is unless the applications you are running start to run out of memory and start to use virtual memory on the hard drive.

 

[Tomorrow]

First of all, congrats on your purchase.

I'm guessing I should take the CD of Snow Leopard that came with my Mac and install it. I thought it was already installed. Anyways, yes/no do I need to install it?

If you have the CD, I would install it. I haven't encountered any negatives from Snow Leopard.

Now I really want to make sure my Mac will always be fast and consistent and not slow down like PC computers. With PCs, you get them and they are great for the first while you have them and they just get super slow after a while. I really want to keep my MacBook Pro fast and safe and clean. Any tips on this? I plan on using it for at least 4 more years.

Shouldn't be a problem. Many of the slowdowns on Windows come from trash files that don't get deleted when an application is uninstalled, and from a bloated registry. With OS X, there's no registry, and uninstalling is usually as simple as dragging an app to the trash. Four years should be easy peasy.

Also, is this good for boot time and reboot time?
32 seconds average for boot up.
5 seconds for shut down

Not bad at all, especially for the shutdown. My iMac boots up pretty fast, I've never timed it but it seems to be in the 30-40 second range, by my guess, and shutdowns take around 15 seconds or so if no apps are open.

For the most part, my Macbook Pro has been really good so far, it sometimes takes long to close programs or if I click something it will bring up that rainbow circle thing as my cursor and will take a little extra time for the Mac to do what I clicked.

I get that if I'm accessing something on a network or external drive, but generally not if I'm accessing something on the internal HD. iTunes seems to be the worst culprit in my case.