If there are any other programs/services running (Endnote, Safari, email software, etc.) it leaves very little memory for workspace. Sound like a lot, but it doesn't take much to push beyond that. The published System Requirements solely for OS X 10.7 & later is 2GB, with Office 2011 requiring another 1GB on top of that.
I'll leave it to John to pursue what he refers to as 'advanced techniques' :-) but IMO the specs you've revealed identify the bulk of the performance issue.īy today's standards, 4GB RAM is considered 'entry level'.