Here's a description of my build (simple) Processor: AMD Phenom II x6 1090t Ram: 16gb 1333 mhz Board: TA990FXE Video Card : HD 6870 HDD Ubuntu is installed on: 320gb caviar blue 7200rpm That should be sufficient enough to diagnose this. Yes I did install the AMD video drivers recommended by Ubuntu. Programs take 2+ seconds to load, and I really don't tolerate that...Windows 7 loads programs as fast as my hdd allows Unless this is how Ubuntu is meant to work...then I'll just go back to Debian command-line.