Updated for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion!

Has your Mac lost its zip? Do you wish you could squeeze extra life out of an older but still functional Mac rather than investing in the latest model? Or are you a power user looking to put together the ultimate high-end Mac configuration for work or play? Nearly every Mac's speed can be boosted considerably and inexpensively if you know what you're doing. In this practical, hands-on book, best-selling author Joe Kissell offers you the results of his extensive research and experimentation in the area of Macintosh performance.

This book shows you how to identify the exact causes of slowdowns and measure your Mac's speed before and after making changes so you know exactly what their effect was. You'll systematically root out the gremlins that chew up CPU cycles, RAM, and disk space; discover numerous tricks to improve responsiveness; and learn how to speed up your email, Web browser, network, peripherals, and more. You'll also explore the benefits of hardware upgrades such as SSDs, faster hard drives, and extra RAM; discover techniques and utilities to boost your Mac's speed; and get to the bottom of some of the most common and pervasive performance myths.

With this 204-page book, you can:

• Save money: Extend your Mac's useful life and postpone buying an expensive new computer.
• Save time: Work more efficiently rather than constantly waiting for your Mac to catch up with you.
• Eliminate irritations: Banish the spinning pizza of death. Reduce startup and application launch times.
• Work smarter: Learn power user tricks for getting more done with less effort.

You'll learn answers to questions like:

• What are the eight quickest fixes for Mac performance problems?
• Which common claims about Mac performance are myths?
• How can I objectively measure my Mac's performance?
• Which popular Mac OS X features have hidden (and severe) speed penalties?
• What are the best ways to find and eliminate CPU and RAM hogs?
• Can I make my Mac faster by freeing up disk space?
• Will defragmenting my disk, repairing permissions, or clearing caches speed up my Mac?
• When is an SSD (solid-state drive) a smart upgrade choice?
• Which hardware upgrades are worth the money, and which should I avoid?
• If Web browsing is slow, how can I tell where the bottleneck is?
• How can I make my Mac start up, go to sleep, or wake up faster?
• How can I type faster?
• How can I make my mouse pointer move faster or more fluidly?