I'm struck by how much faster apps start and run while being using X11 forwarding through a ssh connection. The difference is almost nearly double the start time for local apps. Some things are even faster. Searching Synaptic over ssh, for example, is nearly instantaneous compared to running it local.
I'm concerned that I have something screwy with my local configuration that is slowing me down. Is it possible that the reduced load of not having to draw X windows is making a that much difference?