Two points to notice now that SP1 has been installed.... (bar from the little driver issue...)
First of all, when you let windows view your pics in its own viewer - there are more options!
Secondly, when using windows movie maker, previously, when trying to do anything with an mp3 file, it threw up an error and refused mp3 format - now? it accepts mp3s....
I havent done much else to determine whats improved - but certainly yes, booting up and shutting down doesn't take forever!!