In message <btmke6$8the9$2@ID-220254.news.uni-berlin.de>, Bob <newsgroups@dawnlink.ltd.uk> writes

You've already said it I believe - GUI.  Put the CLI on and see the differnece that makes

I'm sure it will -- it improves the other machine's turnaround by something over 10% :-)  But  I'm talking about a sudden 3- or 400% increase in turnaround on a machine *on which nothing else has changed.* Before Jan 1/2 it was taking around 5-6 hours per unit, now it's up to 20 hours. I've been running the GUI throughout .  I'm sure I'd spot some other signs if the machine's performance had degraded that much!