2-3 second freezes (esp when using sounds) + chat window size issue

Hi folks

I want to be able to use Fire with notification sounds, but when I do, it
always pauses/freezes for a second or two, sometimes three, when trying to
grab the sound. 

This is on a Powerbook G4 667. I know that on battery power there are issues
on this comp with sound...annoying as heck. But, even on power adapter, Fire
struggles with the sound.

Is there a certain sound format that works better? wav vs. aiff or
something?

The only other thing I kinda wish would work better is this:

I'm on a laptop all the time, and often I just want to keep a tiny window
going with a chat in it...but the windows only get so small in Fire. In
fact, the buddy windows is much more shrinkable than the chat windows...and
the chat win's have a lot of wasted space, with the huge border at bottom
and the thick divider. 1) this takes up more room than necessary on my
screen, which needs every pixel and 2) it makes it much more obvious to
coworkers that I'm chatting! (grin)

But, hey, awesome app and amazing response to all the protocol changes. 



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