This laptop (tablet actually) is too slow for Chromium and Google Docs. I feel I've done all I can. I'm using Seamonkey now but websites like Google Docs are just too slow. I don't want to get offtopic into this rabbit hole again because...

I have a much faster desktop computer on the same WiFi connection so I thought "Why not just remotely connect into that while my wife uses it. Thing is, it's Mac OSX. Here's what I've tried:

1) $ssh -X user@mac
^ There are no browsers compiled with X support available natively on OSX so it's command line only.

2) VNC to the Mac:
^ unusably slow and laggy over N wifi. Also, the screen doesn't fit since the mac has a bigger display and this tablet is 10".

3) $ssh -X into a linux virtual machine running on the Mac
^ this works but again it's too laggy over the network

Things I'm thinking about trying now:

A) RDP to a RDP server in the linux VM running on the Mac.

B) VRDP to the virtualbox RDP server on the mac (but I'll need to get the host additions working for that)

C) Buy some kind of expensive mac solution: I'm not sure if this will work though... maybe my network is too slow. It seems very fast in every other way but speed isn't the same as lag...

D) Perhaps get a wired connection between the laptop and desktop might work better?

I wondered if it's possible to put one process thread onto a remote machine...? It's totally over the top but it would be an interesting learning experience if that's possible.

Wonder if NomachineNX or OpenNX would work??

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Thanks.
I tried it out. I logged in as myself on the mac but... it then gave control of the current screen rather than the background user. So only one person can use it at a time

OK. So I finally got it working.

Chrome works well. Chromium doesn't seem to work with remote desktop! I had to install the .deb on the client and the .pkg on the mac. And also had to enable remote management on the mac.
Feels like opening up a lot.

Nomachine didn't work in the background but Chrome does.

Is it possible to add more RAM to the machine? In my experience, most Macs are "quite fast enough," but they might not have enough memory. Even for old models, an authorized Apple reseller (or, a third-party memory supplier's web site) can tell you what your options are. Memory chips are usually quite easy to replace. (Or, a dealer can do it.)

You used the remote feature in the browser Chrome correct?

The Mac is fast. The old laptop (tablet actually) is slow. I think the RAM is soldered onto the board but to know for sure I have to open it as the dentist didn't want to xray it
To open it is a risk... because it's cheap and a little bit rare it's gonna be a hard breaking new ground. I could mess it up. 2gb should be enough for Google Docs but it seems it's not. The browser benchmark is 6x faster on the mac.

Back on topic though,
yes, Chrome remote desktop worked. It can login in the background while another user is logged in so 2 users can use the mac at the same time :-) You have to install a package on both the client and server though. Nomachine didn't work as well because when you login as one user it gves you control to whoever is logged in so it doesn't work in the background on OSX.

As I say, a direct X11 connection to a virtual machine was too slow and there are no builds of browsers on OSX with X support compiled in anyway (if you want to compile one you'll need a mac and a 4gb xcode download)