Leopard, by default, enables Secure Virtual Memory. This was done after criticism that Tiger, which also included Secure VM, left it off by default. Some felt that securing virtual memory was necessary to be a modern OS, regardless of computing environment.

Now, I’m all for secure computing. But, to be honest, most Macs are in a home environment that rarely needs it. Secure VM can be enabled quickly and easily. But, if there’s no performance hit, why not?

Which now begs the question… does Leopard hurdle the uncertainty? Does it run just as fast with Secure VM enabled or not? Discuss.