running very slow and apps not responding

My computer has been doing behaving in the same troubling manner for at least one month. I don't run either of those applications you mention. In fact, simple functions such as transferring music from iTunes to my non-Apple mp3 player is a chore, with nearly each drag and drop followed by that spinning wheel I hardly ever saw in my first few months of ownership.
I think it was that ******* "firm"ware update that's turned this beautiful beast into a sickly wimp.

Hi Gareth

Dont know if this is any help,but when transfering songs from a laptop to my imac wirelesly i was experiencing the same problem. I repaired disc permissions and everything was fine , however when trying to repeat the transfers the mac would slow down again.So i would say,judging by my own experience the apps are upseting your mac.I'm sure however someone will help you out on this excellent forum.

20''imac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Read through the following FAQ about the SBBOD (spinning beachball of death):

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html
See if there is anyting in there that applies to your situations(s).

It may be that you need to do some basic maintenance on your Mac:

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintainingmacosx.html

Sometimes these slowdowns occur if you have an iDisk mounted. If you do, try unmounting it and see if your speed returns to normal.