Scheduling Command Speeds

NOTE-- In 2000 we retired MacNail, and replaced it with Goldenseal construction software. Like MacNail, it is designed for builders, remodelers and other small businesses. Goldenseal is a complete small business solution that handles accounting, construction estimating, and project management, plus simple project scheduling. You'll rarely have problems with speed in Goldenseal, which does not require Excel.

Project Scheduling Speeds

Each of the MacNail commands show two approximate running times, using Excel 1.5. The first time is based on a standard Mac II or Mac LC. The second time is based on a standard Mac SE or Mac Classic. Both computers were tested using moderately large scheduling files from the MacNail project management software.

You can expect the following speed adjustments for your own computer when using the MacNail construction scheduling software:
* A Mac Plus will be about 15% slower than the SE time.
* A Mac SE/30, IIx, IIsi or Mac IIcx will be about 20% faster than the Mac II time. A Mac IIci will be about 60% faster. A Mac IIfx will be about 200% faster.
* If memory is tight, some commands may take much longer than the listed times. Adding memory (or increasing Excel's memory partition) will solve this kind of speed problem, but it will otherwise have no major impact on speed (see page 136).
* Faster or slower hard disks may affect some speeds slightly-- especially when opening and saving files.
* Some commands will work more quickly on small files, and more slowly on very large files.file size
* There are significant and irregular speed differences between Excel 1.5 and Excel 2.2.