Opening URLs from Kmail & Knode

[Alec <alec1976nyc@yahoo.com>]

Hi

I have a suspition that clicking on URLs in Kmail and Knode messages when 
konqueror is already running is wasteful WRT the system resources compared to 
opening a new window and typing in the URL. The reason I think so is because 
it takes so long (3-5 seconds) when I click on a URL in these programs (Much 
longer than when middle-clicking on a link in the browser) 

Is it true that KDE is not handling this task optimally and how can I verify 
it? vmstat is not very helpful, since Linux does not try to minimize RAM use 
(That's what it's there for)

Thanks in advance for satisfying my nagging curiousity.

Alec