I wasn't a GIMP user until recently. I have downloaded version 2.6 and 2.8 In terms of interface, I prefer 2.8, but I'm not sure why is that version run much slower than 2.6 on my laptop. I'm not a tech savvy person, and I'm fine with version 2.6, I just want to know what is going on.
Here is my computer specs:
MacBook Pro 2013 (non-retina)
OS X version 10.8.3 Mountain Lion
2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
8GB RAM 1600MHz DDR 3
Intel HD Graphic 4000 (on board)
750GB 5400 rpm HDD
This is what happens when I move my image. And this is a 640x400 px resolution image. The only application running when I take this screenshot is my web browser. Needless to say, this kind of problem is more apparent with larger files, or when using 'heavier' tools.
Could it be my graphic card is causing a bottleneck? I have heard that Intel graphic card sucks, but some also said that Intel HD 4000 is a big jump than 3000. Most people says that Intel graphic cards are not suitable for gaming, but I wonder if it's fine for image editing.
Or perhaps it's because of the HDD? My version of MacBook Pro doesn't come with SSD (which I find amazingly fast), but is a 5400 rpm HDD really that bad? Also, isn't when I'm using an application, the file is loaded to the application, which makes this rather irrelevant?
Or perhaps GIMP is actually a rather heavy application? I mean, I used Photoshop CS3 in my previous PC laptop with Dual Core processor and 4GB RAM, and it runs without this kind of lag... despite crashes occasionally when I do certain commands (perhaps something went wrong on installation, I used a pirated software, though), but it works smoothly in terms of moving and scaling images.
Or does GIMP tend to run slower on Mac somehow?