How to create a virtual file on mac OS X?

Slowwwww file sorting in OS X

• Why are files in OS X taking so darn long to place themselves alphabetically after being named? A recent and annoying problem is happening when I create or rename files on my Mac. Like many, I navigate in the Finder using the column lists. When I name a file in a list it takes literally 2+ seconds for the file to position itself in the correct alphabetical placement in that list. For example if a folder contains a file named "ball" and I create a new file named "apple" it takes "apple" 2+ seconds to automatically go above "ball". This happens with multiple apps open or with no apps open at all. To my knowledge, nothing is running in the background that would slow down the OS. All apps (photoshop, etc.) are running fine. I'm running OS 10.4.5 on a 2 GHz IMac. I cry mercy. I've been to a dozen Mac sites and can't find the answer.

• Answer:

  Does this happen in any folder you try it in? [Trying to exclude possibility of very slow disks full of files] There is a slight pause when you rename a file in the Finder before it moves to its new position, presumably so you can see easily that the rename has taken effect. However, it's on the order of half a second on my very aged Powerbook. 2+ seconds is too long.