> Maybe I am just used to the speed now so the system seems like it
> has slowed down when it really hasn't.

well! the more stuff you add, the more apps you have running at one
time, the more bells and whistles you use (like wobbly windows and
spinning cubes) well...ALL of those things you add REQUIRE more
resources (CPU cycles, RAM locations, etc etc etc)....and, if you add
stuff over time without adding faster computations, memory etc etc
etc, then it WILL get slower and slower..

it doesn't "seem like it has slowed down", it HAS slowed down..

to optimize: turn off/uninstall the stuff you added to slow it
down OR buy faster hardware...there are *no* other choices.

--
brassy