EMac has poor memory management

Question

I use an eMac and a G5. I would expect the G5 to be much faster than the eMac but here's a funny thing: I find that the G5 also manages memory much better than the eMac! For example, when I run OmniWeb for a long time on my eMac and really put it through its paces, loading up multiple pages and tabs, I find that OmniWeb starts running slower. Not surprising, but the rest of the computer starts running slower too! For example, creating a new folder may take several seconds.
Even stranger: after I quit all of my programs, the sluggishness continues. My eMac does not recover until I completely restart. Maybe OmniWeb has a memory leak or something, but this doesn't happen on the G5! I can put OmniWeb through its paces on the G5 and launch twice as many programs, including Photoshop, with no noticeable slowdown.
Now here's the weirdest thing of all: both computers have exactly the same amount of memory (768 MB) and both have plenty of free hard drive space (over 40 GB). All the memory on my eMac is Apple brand. I have even clean-reinstalled the OS on my eMac, to no avail.
Is it normal that memory management would be so much better on a G5 than an eMac?

Answer 1

The improvements in each OS generation in memory management involve swapping tasks in and out of memory more efficiently, not using less memory --- invariablly more memory is actually used (to do more tasks). It would've been clearer had I noted that each OS generation does more with the memory and places more stringent demands on the RAM timing. Memory chips tha were good enough under 10.1 failed when 10.2 came out; ditto with 10.3/10.2 and 10.4/10.3
See what Console and/or Activity Monitor tell you is using CPU cycles.