Slow start and page load on 10.8.5?
I recently upgraded to 10.8.5 from 10.6.8. It now takes several tries to get the system to start, and page loading on the net seems slower. Is this normal?
No.
Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart or hold down the option/alt key during a restart and select Recovery Volume). Run Disk Utility Verify/Repair and Repair Permissions until you get no errors. Then re-install the OS.