YOU MUST READ THIS IF v1.1 IS SLOW

Question

Sorry for the topic title in capitals but I just want to help people like me, who have a lot of work with photos and not necessarily want to spend hours reading posts. If someone can make it a sticky, that would be fine.
WHAT TO DO TO MAKE LIGHTROOM 1.1 WORK FAST.
1. Go to Edit --> Preferences.
2. In Preferences go to the tab 'General'
3. In the tab 'General' click the button 'Go to Catalog Settings'.
4. In 'Catalog Settings' go to 'Metadata' tab.
5. In the 'Metadata' tab UNTICK (DEselect) the following options:
- Write develop settings to XMP for JPG, TIFF, and PSD
- Automatically write changes into XMP
6. Click 'OK' to save settings.
And now the rest of the story.
Working with version 1.0 was quite pleasant although not too fast. I've tried different settings, but there was no difference. When upgrading to v1.1 my settings were probably transfered. I don't know what these two options do as I work only with Lightroom and Photoshop. No Bridge, no RAW software etc. I work 99% on JPGs.
When I deselected these options nothing changed in my workflow. When I want to edit in Photoshop I also have the three options (original/copy/original with adjustments). So probably many people won't need that option either. I do not plan to go into the XMP issue any further. Probably there are thousands of people in my exact situation.
To sum things up, when these two options were selected, my computer imported 1940 files in 20 HOURS and after all the thumbs were present the computer was still using 100% CPU power doing something. It took minutes to refresh a set of thumbnails visible on screen (12 thumbs in my case). When I clicked to develop I had to wait 30 minutes for the image to appear sharp in 1:1 view. Lightroom did not want to quit using 100% CPU after 24-27 hours.
When I unticked these options, the same photos imported within 60-90 seconds. Thumbnails were instantaneous and clicking to develop was instant. Also 1:1 was instant.
So sorry once again for the brutal title but I just want to help people so that they avoid reading lots of posts and just getting frustrated.
If anyone is active on other forums, please post the simple solution.
Now I see that Lightroom 1.1 is much better in terms of speed when compared to 1.0.
Machine: PC, Pentium IV 2,6GHz, 1,5GB RAM

Answer 1

If you want the Library function, but don't want all the waiting and loading tedium, let me suggest you use Bridge/ACR4.1 for all the pre Library development and conversion steps in your workflow. including keywording, metadata, etc. Then import to LR. LR Library is not fast, but it is a lot faster if you are only using it for a DB --and perhaps the occasional touch up of an image or two. And, it will do all its importing while you have a cup of coffee.
Then, when they do get it revved up in a future upgrade, you will have your images in the LR DB up to date and ready to go. In the meantime, Bridge/ACR will certainly be faster if you have a lot of images to process.
I process hundreds of images a day at work, and using Bridge/ACR as the first stop in my workflow is fast compared to LR--especially since I use PSCS3 for most of my work--faster because the connection between Bridge and PS is scripted and direct, faster than the one between LR and PS, which is very elementary at this time. The Bridge interface is is more workflow efficient as well.
At this point anyway, going through the LR DB for virtually every operation is just simply slower than working through a cached browser like Bridge/ACR. For some users that is not a price they worry about. For others, like myself, that price is simply too high at this point in time.
I have no complaints, given that Adobe have provided ample workflow design choices for me by utilizing the best of three closely related applications--PS,Bridge/ACR,and LR