MACBOOK: PLS HELP: Slower performance?

Question

Hi there. I've just bought the Macbook Black, Intel Core Duo, 2GHz, 1GB MemoryRam (upgraded), 80GB harddisk, etc etc. I used to have a Powerbook G4.
I'm however disappointed in MacBook. I used some of it's applications, i.e. Comic Strip, iTunes, etc, it was at a reasonable pace, although a tad slower than my old G4. Then I installed MS Office for Mac, and I tried using it's applications, somehow it slowed down considerably. So most applications I use becomes a nightmare coz it takes ages to perform one command! Pls someone tell me, why this is, and what I can do to speed up it's performance?
Another question: when we buy Macbook, is it not supposed to come with all the softwares CDs (Mac OS CD, Apple Applications CDs..etc) too? All I have is the Install CDs.
MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  
MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

Answer 1

Office works faster right now on a PowerBook G4 because it was written for the G4 processor. The new MacBooks use Intel Core Duo processors that are totally different.
Think of it this way. My primary language is English. I can communicate (run programs) quickly and efficiently in English (My Intel-powered MacBook). I know a little spanish (PPC), but I am far from fluent. In spanish, it takes me longer to come up with the right words to say what I want. And if I hear anything, I have to "translate" it in my head and think about the meaning in english. Rosetta is the "program" on the Intel macs that can "translate" programs from PPC to Intel code. There's a bit of a speed hit and it uses a lot of RAM.
If you use PowerPoint a lot, you might think about looking into apple's iWork suite, which includes a powerpoint-like program called Keynote. Keynote can import PowerPoint files and export to PowerPoint, and it is Intel native so it runs quickly.
The "processor whirring" that you are talking about, I believe is the macbook's fan for cooling, or if it is even more quiet, it is probably the hard drive spinning. The processor itself should not make any noise, although there are some reports of the processors or graphics card making a high-pitched "whine" sound, which I wouldn't necessarily describe as "whirring".
Are you in a place with pretty high ambient temperatures? If it is summer where you are, and you're causing high processor use, the fan is more likely to run, but lower use where it idles a lot, such as when typing emails and light web-surfing shouldn't cause the fan to run noisily all the time. In that situation, I think you might want to call AppleCare and see if your computer needs a repair. They can also walk you through the process of resetting the PRAM and power manager, which may help if you're experiencing weird fan and power irregularities.
Personally, although I have installed and updated the Office 2004 suite on my MacBook, I have not used it much since installing, so I can't tell you how it works for me. I haven't had any moments on my computer where it felt very sluggish, but I am using mostly Universal Binary Intel-native programs. Right now I have Mail.app, Safari, iChat, Parallels (the virtual WIndows XP program), iTunes, and Terminal open with 574MB out of my 2GB of RAM free.
I hope that you can solve this problem!