Programs not shutting down?
"Whenever I shut down my laptop, it is a very painful experience... one by one I watch a series of programs die a painful death, as they refuse to shut down gracefully. The error messages about "Windows Stations" that are closing are very useful, but somehow the entire process (which sometimes involves clicking a few "End Task" buttons, and maybe even selecting Shut Down all over again because half of my system is still breathing) reminds me a lot of watching someone you love learning to drive with your stick-shift sportscar. You try to smile and focus on the end result, but each event, each horrible noise or lurching movement, forces a wince out of you."
[Duncan Mackenzie]
Ouch. That does sound like a painful experience. But instead of standby, I'd recommend Hibernate. Saves your entire system state to disk and then actually shuts off your laptop (Stand by just puts it in low power mode). Boot time is longer (obviously) than Stand by, but not quite as long as shutdown. I find it quite useful.