Safari Slowdowns

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After upgrading to 10.4.7 I started noticing frequent slowdowns in Safari. The “Spinning Rainbow Cursor of Death” was becoming a constant occurence.

There are plenty of recommendations about how to fix this common issue.

  • Delete the contents of the icons folder in ~/Library/Safari
  • replace the syndication agent at
    /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Syndication.framework

    with a copy from a Mac OS X system that does not have problems (subscription required)

  • adjust the interval at which the syndication agent checks for RSS feeds, or turn off RSS feeds altogether in Safari preferences (subscription required)
  • Install unlockupd to keep an eye on lookupd and restart it if it fails – this addresses possible lookupd corruption
    turn off then on your router or cable modem (subscription required)

    I’ve found that things improved after installing unlockupd, but am not certain the problem is gone yet.