- Why does inkscape respond much slower when moving grouped/multiple
items via arrow keys vs mouse?
Because while you're dragging with mouse, it does not actually move anything, it just pretends. The change to the document happens only as you release the mouse, and then the delay is the same as when moving by an arrow key. It cannot possibly be different as it's the same code at work.
1a) Why does it take so long to regain control of objects when they've been moved? (once again, those grouped/multiple objects)
I don't know because I haven't looked. I guess updates to the document's SVG code are expensive in general. If you want to help, try to debug it to find out which function exactly takes most of that time.
- Why does it sometimes take up to 2 mins to start responding again after
moving grouped/multiple items (via KB)... longest I've seen by mouse is 20 seconds? (sometimes processor is pegged, other times only using 3%, but still not responsive)
I never saw such response times. Please submit a bug with such a file attached. Especially if mouse/keyboard delays are demonstrably different.
- Why does inkscape explode in RAM so much? Basically if I have an 800k
document, why would inkscape be using 133megs of RAM (not always, but if working with it for like 30mins), vs a smaller (500k) document that only uses like 40megs.
Because the new garbage collector does not free the memory unless asked or unless it runs into a limit. So, yes, it tends to take a huge pile of memory, but it can free most of it if e.g. you launch another application. This is an area where more debugging is needed, though.