Hi Doug,

> When loading updates from the beginning of 3.7alpha, after 
> update #5501 (recreate special objects array), the updates
> slow down dramatically.

Not for me. I just updated all the way through and didn't find anything
noticable. The updates whooshed along at regular speed and I was done in
maybe five minutes.

> However, this only happens as long as you haven't saved & 
> restarted your image. Once you do this, or if you start with
> a fresh post-5501 image from the ftp site, updates are fast
> again.

That sounds weird. Have tried this a couple of times? Maybe the server was
just slow - I updated (twice) from the European update server (which is
right around the corner) and both times it went smoothly and fast.

> So, I'm thinking I should retrofit update 5501 (or perhaps 
> 5502) so that it prompts the user to save & restart his/her image.

I'd much rather find out what causes the slowdown. That it's happening after
5501 may just be coincidence. If it were really related to 5501 then it most
likely it means some VM deficiency (since 5501 affects only VM stuff) and
I'd like to find out what could possibly cause this to happen.

Cheers,
  - Andreas