I fully understand that other running processes will have an impact on MJ's performance and that new features are more important than squeezing every last little bit of work out of each second of cpu time. It may very well be an outdated dll, a configuration setting, or any number of other things which may be specific to my machine - which is why I suggested other people trying the same test that I did.
I killed off processes to get to your basic win2k stuff and tried the same test (128kbps mp3). MJ is taking about 40-45% while in mini-me mode, system idle process is taking about 45-55% with the remainder being gobbled up occasionally by one or more of the following : taskmgr.exe, iexplore.exe, explorer.exe, csrss.exe, lsass.exe, system.
I did notice something else. If MJ is not playing anything and is in minime mode, it takes 15-16% cpu time as long as it is open (doesn't need to be the active window, just open). If I minimize it, cpu time drops to 0%, megame is 0% as well.
Keith