Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but here's what happened.
My little MacBook started overheating. The fans would spin up to full and make lots of noise when using Safari or Firefox. It got to the point where the browser would slow to crawl, making it hard to even type an address in.
I opened Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor) and took a look. Turns out that a process called "Microsoft Sync" was taking up around 100% of my processor resources. The Intel-based Macs have a dual-core chip, so there is theoretically 200% processing power available at max. "Microsoft Sync" synchronizes information between iCal/Address Book/Notes and Entourage and it does it in the background.
To make matters worse, I use the 2004 version of Microsoft Office and the version of "Microsoft Sync" that comes with it is not a "Universal Binary" version. In other words, the software was not written for the Intel chips. This "non-native" software runs, but runs badly and will really slow down your computer.
So, I opened Microsoft Entourage and went to the Entourage menu and chose "Preferences..." Under "General Preferences" are setting for "Sync Services". I turned off syncing for iCal, Address Book and Notes and Viola! (or, as kids these days spell it "Walla!") No more fan noise and Safari and Firefox now run faster than a Senator from a town hall meeting!
Bottom line: If you have Microsoft Office installed, but don't use Entourage, turn Sync Services off.
If you do use Entourage, but don't use iCal/Address Book/Notes, turn Sync Services off.
If you use Entourage and you still want it to sync with the Apple software, make sure that you are using the latest version of Microsoft Office.
And, if you get a chance, launch Activity Monitor and leave it open to get a good lesson on how your Mac is using it resources.
Cheers,
Your Genius
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