Slow internet / DNS problems on OSX Leopard
My girlfriend's Macbook has yet to be updated to Snow Leopard (hey, I'll get round to it), so recently when it started loading web pages incredibly slowly, my first instinct was to update it. However, I then figured that wasn't the best solution and I spent a few hours surfing the web.
I'll spare you the details, in the end I could find no fault. Updates were in order, Airport was working, speed was fine on other routers. It even connected to Skype and MSN fine. It turned out to be a DNS issue - I just have no idea why. By making OSX use OpenDNS instead of my ISP's we seem to have fixed the issue.
So if you having similar problems, try this.
- Go to System Preferences --> Network --> (Airport) Advanced --> DNS tab
- When here, click the "+" symbol at the bottom of the page to add a manual DNS.
- Enter the OpenDNS IP 208.67.222.222
- Click "Ok" and "Apply".
Restart, to be safe. This fixed things for us. The OpenDNS IP should redirect to the closest relay to your location, ie. Europe, the US etc.. Now, if only someone can tell me why this suddenly messes up in the first place?! My Snow Leopard Macbook still works great!
Snow Leopard First Impressions
I’ve been running Snow Leopard for a (very) short while now, and I’d thought I’d write down my first impressions.
The install process was not good enough. I may be cursed with knowledge but not showing me if I’m upgrading or clean installing is not okay. I get that most people will upgrade and could be confused by the options, but then make an option to go “pro” or something.
I rebooted from the DVD and thought I was doing a clean install. Turns out it was an upgrade. Clean install is reachable from Disc Utility in the Install Menu. To be fair the upgrade is running well at the moment, I just would have liked to have a fresh install to clear up some other niggles with my current system. Now I probably won’t get around to it any time soon, because I am lazy. So there. Install said it would take about 45 mins, took about 1 hour.
Finder is quicker now, but still arranged stupidly (Sort By Kind etc.). Generally seems ... Well, snappier.
Expose is better when selecting windows, but the actual windows are all smaller. They are arranged in a tighter grid, which means they end up being smaller. Not a fan. See picture (Screenshot procedure has changed too, no longer called "Picture 1" etc., see image title.)
Quicktime, meh, who cares. Same as before and I use VLC anyway.
App launching seems about the same. Firefox seems to be experiencing slow downs. Probably not OSX’s fault. Latest FF hasn’t been treating me well, particularly in Windows 7. But that’s for another post.
Bonus: I can now close Mail again. Had a wierd bug before in which I couldn’t shut it down without using a Force Quit.
Next few days will tell if the upgrade is worth it - but at 229 kr. it can't be all wrong...