Honestly, regarding the speed, I think there may be these factors as well:
1. The installer is WAYYYY faster. So, right off the bat, you get an impression of speediness. Could it be that part of the perceived speed increase is in perception?
2. Many people have gotten new computers over the past year, while OOTP's requirements haven't changed. Therefore, in general, more people are perceiving OOTP to be fast.
Just sayin'. I think it's way faster too.
