Please bear with me while I go geek again, although this might be useful to the non-geeks too.

My startup times, which I’ve had to put up with entirely too much lately, have always been monstrous. Not the time it takes to get a login prompt, but the time it takes between logging in and being able to use my computer. All the stuff I want running all the time isn’t a problem when it’s running, I have enough memory for that. But starting up all those programs at once, during launch, made my machine flail around like Jim Carrey on Pixie Sticks.

Enter <a href=”http://www.r2.com.au/software.php?page=2&show=startdelay”>Startup Delayer</a>, one of the most self evident names I’ve ever seen. You install it and let it take control of some or all of the things that are starting up. So now after I log in I can almost immediately start doing the stuff I want. Then 2 minutes later, my calendar will pop up. 2 minutes later, itunes. etc, etc.

If anyone is having similar startup woes, I highly recommend it.