Problems running Photoshop CS6 under OS 10.8 Mountain Lion

Question

Since updating the OS from 10.6.7 to OS 10.8 on iMacs (21" and 24" Intel 2.4GHz) I have experienced problems running Photoshop. The app boots up fine and I can start a project as normal, but when I click on a tool to change it's usage I get the spinning beach ball, this lasts about 5 - 10 seconds and then the tool drop down menu appears. After this, I get the beach ball appearing every few minutes  as I try to work, and the only way to get Photoshop running efficiently is to close it down  and then restart.
Any ideas as to the cause? I've read on forums from both Adobe and Apple that apparently there are no compatibility issues between Mountain Lion and CS6 but I never had this problem previously under Snow Leopard.

Answer 1

The next two remedial steps would be to reset all tools by right-clicking here:
and if that does not resolve the problem, reset Preferences;
To reset Preferences:
If Photoshop is already open on your screen, close it (Quit). Then hold down Shift+Ctrl+Alt (Win) / Shift+Command+Option (Mac) on your keyboard and start Photoshop.
A dialog box will pop up asking if you want to delete the existing Preferences file (the "Settings"). Click Yes in the dialog box. The existing Preferences file will be scrapped and a new one will be created.