This information was provided by Claris Corporation on 16 March 1998, and incorporated into Apple Computer's Tech Info Library.

MacDraw Pro may be significantly slower in operation when the number of colors is set to "thousands" (16 bit) instead of "millions" (24/32 bit) or other video modes. This is because the computer is faster (more efficient) in accessing the memory on the video card at some monitor settings (bit depths) than at others; it is not due to MacDraw Pro. In general, any video card may operate faster in some video modes than in others.

This slower operation will include selecting objects, selecting tools, zooming and scrolling. If the speed is objectionable, the best solution is to use a different video mode. Going to a video mode with more colors, however, may require making more memory available to MacDraw Pro.

You can check the current video mode by selecting About MacDraw Pro from the Apple menu. It will show you the available colors for MacDraw Pro. If this number is followed by " * Currently limited by memory ", MacDraw Pro (1.0 only) is operating with fewer colors than is set in the Control Panel. MacDraw Pro 1.0 may actually switch itself from 24/32-bit mode to 16-bit mode if necessary when you enlarge a window or change the Monitors settings in the Control Panel while a document is open.

Note: MacDraw Pro 1.5 does not switch monitor bit depth to free up memory as MacDraw Pro 1.0v1 does. Instead, MacDraw Pro switches the offscreen buffer off (drawing directly to the screen/video memory).