See this related discussion:
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...9478566ac1ee9b

Also see:

Internet Explorer 8 takes longer than expected to start:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969938

Longjohn wrote:
> Notice many people have this issue. The blurb by MS says that IE8 is very
> fast. Not my experience. Since installing it my downloads have become
> very
> much slower. Is there a way to go back to IE7 without causing software
> screwup?