Unlike previous versions of Ubuntu, which, in order to make a persistent liveUSB, required partitioning, installer bootloaders, copying files, etc, 8.10, which comes with a convenient USB installer program on the LiveCD that creates a no-hassle, no partitioning, persistent liveUSB. This seems like it would be the perfect solution to creating a portable, free environment. However, on two different USB drives (one of which is usually fast), 8.10 (installed through the liveUSB creator) runs extremely slow. It takes about 3-5 minutes to boot, and about 30 seconds to load programs like Firefox 3. Scrolling and typing is extremely slow in all programs, almost to the point where it is completely unusable. Is 8.10 more bloated and slow than previous releases?

The reason I think it is running slow is that with older versions (with the complex methods of doing persistent USB installs), changes were committed on shutdown. In 8.10, they appear to be committed instantly. This I/O increase may be slowing it down.

I have thought about making a cut-down version of 8.10, as I have done this with previous versions to make it fit on smaller flash drives. Does anyone know why it is this slow, and if there is any way to speed it up? Is the solution just to use the old method?