What is Connectix Speed Doubler 1.x?

The folks who brought you RAM Doubler appear to have pulled off another miracle enhancement to the Macintosh Operating System. Connectix Speed Doubler is a collection of three system extensions designed to make your Mac run faster. The centerpiece of the collection, Speed Emulator, works only on Power Macs. This component replaces Apple's 680X0 emulator (which allows you to run older non native programs) with one that runs more efficiently. The Apple emulator in the original Power Macs performed at IIci to Quadra level. Speed Emulator improves that performance with an emulation scheme similar to the one used on the newest Power Macs (such as the 7500, 8500, and 9500), called dynamic recompilation. This emulation technique keeps translated 680X0 code in RAM, so the Mac can use the code again and again without translating it each time, thus improving overall performance. The original Apple emulator translated the code each time it was used, and did not keep it in RAM.

The other two components of Speed Doubler, Speed Access and Speed Copy, also work on 68030 or faster Macs, and runs up to three separate copy operations at the same time. To speed file-copying performance still further, the Speed Replace function replaces only changed files (similar to a feature available in Symantec's Copy Doubler). File deletion is also improved. The Security Erase feature erases file data from a drive (rather than just removing the file's reference from the file directory), so no one can retrieve the file with a file-recovery utility, such as Norton's. You can also delete files selectively, deselecting items in the trash window.

The Numbers Add Up

When put to the test by Macworld Lab, Speed Doubler gets a big thumbs-up. In our standard application test suite, overall 680X0 emulation speed on a first-generation Power Mac was more than doubled. More significant is the fact that 680X0 emulation speeds on the newest Power Macs, which use Apple's dynamic recompilation emulator, were also faster. Disk cache improvements were slight, but noticeable.

Speed Copy's performance boost was less apparent on my 9500/120 (which, like all recent Macs, already has better Finder RAM. Speed Emulator needs 8OOK of RAM to replace Apples emulator, plus extra RAM for its Speed Copy and Speed Access components. For example, Speed Doubler allocates 1/16 of total installed RAM to Speed Access as part of the installation process (you can increase or decrease this amount in the Memory control panel). In general. Speed Doubler works best in a minimum 16MB configuration.

Speed Doubler users have been posting reports of various bugs on the online services and Internet newsgroups. The company has been quick to address the problems; Connectix put two maintenance updates online within six weeks after the program shipped. There are still reports of continuing problems with PowerPC upgrade cards and programs such as Now QuickFiler and Excel 4 (the latter strictly on PCI Power Macs) that Connectix is investigating and hopes to fix in a future update.

The Last Word

I have not experienced a single problem with Speed Doubler on my 9500/120, however. Its performance is first-rate. Even my older 680X0 software feels native in regular use. Speed Doubler makes even the fastest Mac faster, and works seamlessly with most software. If you can give up a megabyte or two of RAM to let Speed Doubler do its stuff, you'll find it one of the most important utilities you can buy.

Steinberg, Gene. (February 1996). Speed Doubler 1.0.2. Macworld. (pg. 56).

Download Connectix Speed Doubler 1.x for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver