IPhoto 08 buggy on iMac G5?

Question

I have just installed iPhoto 08 on my iMac G5. I installed it 'over' the previous installation of iPhoto 6.
What happens is this: I open a photo, experiment with some edits using the Adjust palette sliders, then zoom in by using the slider at the bottom right of the screen. At this point, the beachball starts to spin.
Either the screen takes a long time to refresh (ie very slow response) OR the beachball will spin and spin and spin, with no other option than to Force Quit.
I checked out the Activity Monitor whilst the iPhoto 08 app was hanging and the processor was running flat out.
I have an iMac G5 1.9mhz processor and 1GB of RAM. Photoshop CS3 runs like a dream on this machine, as does iPhoto 6.
Today at the Apple Store I tried out one of the new iMacs, running the very same commands on a high res image, then zoomed in, and was very fast, it could handle the same commands with absolutely no lags, no delays. iPhoto 08 runs very well on the latest machines.
Could it be that my iMac G5 is just too low spec to run iPhoto 08, or could there be a bug in the program? It seems to happen particularly when applying the sharpening and noise reduction commands, and then zooming in afterwards.
I'm also concerned that my iPhoto Library will no longer be readable if I go back to iPhoto 6, there was a warning when I first started the app for the first time that the library would no longer be readable by earlier versions of iPhoto.

Answer 1

For me the latest update has make linking to iTunes for a slideshow an excruciatingly slow operation, sometimes up to 1 minute. This is on a G5. All the other aspects of iPhoto are working for me. It's a direct result of the iLife 08 updater. Going back to iPhoto 7.0.1 or 2 does not speed it up so the problem seems to be outside iPhoto.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance. iPhoto doesn't not have to be closed to run it, just idle.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.