[voodoo]

When you install just about any app, especially Apple apps or OS X updates the install ends with the 'optimizing volume':Macintosh HD thing. It takes pretty long on my 600 MHz iBook, but very short on a good G4. Regardless, my question is what is being optimized? And why? And why isn't this something that was done is OS 9? Is this done in Windows?

I am

[CheesePuff]

Probably updating the prebinding or fixing permissions.

[Catfish_Man]

As Cheesepuff said, it's updating the prebinding. In layman's terms, (as I understand it, anyway) it's telling all the programs where things (libraries, to be specific) are so that they don't need to spend time looking when starting up. This improves application launch time. I could be a ways off on this definition, I haven't really looked into it much.