Hi
System: 1.54 on a late 2009 Macbook Pro Snow Leopard.
Bug: Excessive CPU usage, especially when “sub” windows are open. EG Targets or Keywords
Here’s what I’ve found about CPU usage on my machine.
Scrivener when it’s ‘idle’ IE when I’m not typing and it’s done saving etc. will usually sit there with <1% CPU usage - pretty much what you’d expect from an idle app.
If I’m typing away in the default layout with no sub windows open, CPU usage tends to use 25% of CPU (Compare to 7% for textedit & 12% for word). So I’m noticing higher battery drain using Scrivener than other apps. This seems high to me, but maybe it’s normal?
If I keep the targets sub window open at all times, the Scrivener idle usage will usually jump to a minimum of 4 to 8%
If I keep the keywords window open at all times, this figure will rarely fall below 18%.
My limited testing seems to indicate these windows also have an effect on CPU usage when typing, so much so that if I’m typing away in Scrivener with a couple of these sub windows open the CPU usage sits between 35% and 45%. That’s compared to 7% or textedit and 12% for word.
So Scrivener with these windows seems to be using between 4 and 6 times the processor power of other editing apps I’ve got installed. This is having a dramatic effect on battery life, and has meant my usable work time on one charge drops from over 6 hours to under 4. I can mitigate some of this by closing windows down when not needed, but is it normal for so much CPU grunt to be needed?
And BTW, I also get the typing lag issue, seemingly at random, and when that occurs I have to close down Scrivener and re-open. That always cures it, but then I have to mess about with my session targets.