Cannot agree more. one of the default settings I used to set my windows computers on is "adjust for best performance". that used to really remove all sorts of nonsensical animations. I would suggest UI designers include this option in their apps. the first 2 times the menu bar progressively shows its items may look cute, but after 500 times it's really an annoyance.

Another pet peeve I have is when web pages shows very little content because: 1. the fonts are too big 2. there are too many sidebar (top/bottom/etc) items 3. the graphics or icons take too much room

i have some ideas about optimization but will reserve that rant for another time.