[macmanmk]

I have been underwhelmed with 3.3.1. I still see a lot of pinwheeling when I'm adding metadata (keywords, location info, etc)

[DocNo]

macmanmk, on 10 July 2012 - 06:49 AM, said:

I have been underwhelmed with 3.3.1. I still see a lot of pinwheeling when I'm adding metadata (keywords, location info, etc)

Is your library file on an SSD or have you defragged your hard drive?

[countrygrrl_ak]

DocNo, on 10 July 2012 - 03:20 AM, said:

astyle, on 09 July 2012 - 06:46 AM, said:

I like the new features, but on my 4 year old MacBookPro 4G RAM running Lion, Aperture is painfully slow. The new update seems slower than previous versions. Still spending too much time watching the spinning beach ball.

1) Have you checked the Energy Saver System Preference to ensure you don't have switchable graphics that is set to "Better Battery Life" instead of "Higher Performance"?

2) Have you defragged your hard drive lately? I use and love iDefrag. Before I switched to referenced masters and moved my library file to an SSD drive, the difference between my unoptomized disk and and a defragged hard drive was night and day. Aperture is constantly writing to the databases that track thumbnails and edits, and if those database files fragment the performance really suffers. Especially since switching to an SSD I never see the spinning beach ball.

Instead of fretting over getting new machine, why not take a stab at upgrading your existing Mac? Try the OWC data doubler - chuck that optical drive and replace it with an SSD. Leave your masters on the hard drive, but get that library file on an SSD - I suspect the majority of your spinning beach balls will quickly disappear. In the meantime, get and use iDefrag. They have a trial so you have nothing to loose.

The idea of defragging an OS X hard drive is not totally valid. It does become valid should you have filled your hard drive currently or in the past. This is an old discussion amoung administrator groups and you can find information straight from Apple at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1375 Which states defragging a hard drive isn't necessary and could even slow your Mac down. The tech note also points out that a database is not fragmented across a hard drive, unless the drive has been filled. To note I have found that significant improvements can be gained by reinstalling OS X and then your personal data restored should you have operated your Mac on a filled hard drive. All the files are replaced in their proper position again.

Also of importance since this discussion concerns alternate drives to store libraries on is http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3252 This short article states simply to not use Microsoft file systems or network drives for Aperture as the library could become corrupted and is a poor performer.

To be sure adding a SSD drive is wise if one is having performance problems. If adding a SSD drive is not an option then replace the stock 5400 RPM hard drive with a Hybrid drive. Or even just a 7200 RPM drive can help increase performance.

[bdelidow]

Use Aperture all the time - Won't be "upgrading" to this hot mess. Cannot stand that nasty washed out interface - it's why I quit using iPhoto. Apple needs to get a clue about COLOR. The monochromatic nonsense is not only hard to see - it's just UGLY. Not going there.