diff --git a/gtk/main.c b/gtk/main.c
index e78ddabb6..03aeb7361 100644
--- a/gtk/main.c
+++ b/gtk/main.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 #include <libtransmission/version.h>
 
 /* interval in milliseconds to update the torrent list display */
-#define UPDATE_INTERVAL         1000
+#define UPDATE_INTERVAL         1666
 
 /* interval in milliseconds to check for stopped torrents and update display */
 #define EXIT_CHECK_INTERVAL     500
@@ -320,9 +320,6 @@ main( int argc, char ** argv )
         GtkWindow * mainwind = GTK_WINDOW( tr_window_new( myUIManager, cbdata->core ) );
         g_signal_connect( mainwind, "window-state-event", G_CALLBACK(windowStateChanged), cbdata );
 
-        /* set message level here before tr_init() */
-        msgwin_loadpref( );
-
         appsetup( mainwind, argfiles, cbdata, startpaused, startminimized );
     }
     else
@@ -880,9 +877,6 @@ updatemodel(gpointer gdata) {
   if( data->wind )
       tr_window_update( data->wind );
 
-  /* update the message window */
-  msgwin_update();
-
   return TRUE;
 }
 
@@ -1123,7 +1117,7 @@ doAction ( const char * action_name, gpointer user_data )
     {
         if( !data->msgwin )
         {
-            GtkWidget * win = msgwin_create( data->core );
+            GtkWidget * win = msgwin_new( data->core );
             g_signal_connect( win, "destroy", G_CALLBACK( msgwinclosed ), 
                              NULL );
             data->msgwin = win;
diff --git a/gtk/msgwin.c b/gtk/msgwin.c
index f3b63dcad..3db5494e7 100644
--- a/gtk/msgwin.c
+++ b/gtk/msgwin.c
@@ -1,26 +1,14 @@
-/******************************************************************************
- * $Id$
+/*
+ * This file Copyright (C) 2008 Charles Kerr <charles@rebelbase.com>
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2006-2008 Transmission authors and contributors
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
- * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
- * to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
- * the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
- * and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
- * Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
- * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
- * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
- * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
- * DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
- *****************************************************************************/
+ * This file is licensed by the GPL version 2.  Works owned by the
+ * Transmission project are granted a special exemption to clause 2(b)
+ * so that the bulk of its code can remain under the MIT license. 
+ * This exemption does not extend to derived works not owned by
+ * the Transmission project.
+ * 
+ * $Id:$
+ */
 
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -34,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "conf.h"
 #include "hig.h"
 #include "msgwin.h"
+#include "tr-core.h"
 #include "tr-prefs.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
@@ -57,9 +46,11 @@ struct MsgData
     GtkTreeModel * filter;
     GtkTreeModel * sort;
     int maxLevel;
+    guint refresh_tag;
 };
 
-static struct MsgData myData;
+static struct tr_msg_list * myTail = NULL;
+static struct tr_msg_list * myHead = NULL;
 
 /***
 ****
@@ -164,10 +155,12 @@ onSaveRequest( GtkWidget * w, gpointer data )
 }
 
 static void
-onClearRequest( GtkWidget * w UNUSED, gpointer unused UNUSED )
+onClearRequest( GtkWidget * w UNUSED, gpointer gdata )
 {
-    struct MsgData * data = &myData;
+    struct MsgData * data = gdata;
     gtk_list_store_clear( data->store );
+    tr_freeMessageList( myHead );
+    myHead = myTail = NULL;
 }
 
 static struct {
@@ -304,128 +297,155 @@ isRowVisible( GtkTreeModel * model, GtkTreeIter * iter, gpointer gdata )
     return level <= data->maxLevel;
 }
 
+static void
+onWindowDestroyed( gpointer gdata, GObject * deadWindow UNUSED )
+{
+    struct MsgData * data = gdata;
+    g_source_remove( data->refresh_tag );
+    g_free( data );
+}
+
+static tr_msg_list *
+addMessages( GtkListStore * store, struct tr_msg_list * head )
+{
+    const char * default_category = g_get_application_name( );
+    static int sequence = 1;
+    tr_msg_list * i;
+
+    for( i=head; i; i=i->next )
+    {
+        GtkTreeIter unused;
+
+        gtk_list_store_insert_with_values( store, &unused, 0,
+                                           COL_LEVEL, (int)i->level,
+                                           COL_LINE, i->line,
+                                           COL_FILE, i->file,
+                                           COL_TIME, (uint64_t)i->when,
+                                           COL_CATEGORY, ( i->name ? i->name : default_category ),
+                                           COL_MESSAGE, i->message,
+                                           COL_SEQUENCE, sequence++,
+                                           -1 );
+
+         if( !i->next )
+             break;
+    }
+
+    return i; /* tail */
+}
+
+static gboolean
+onRefresh( gpointer gdata )
+{
+    tr_msg_list * msgs = tr_getQueuedMessages( );
+    if( msgs )
+    {
+        /* add the new messages and append them to the end of
+         * our persistent list */
+        struct MsgData * data = gdata;
+        tr_msg_list * tail = addMessages( data->store, msgs );
+        if( myTail )
+            myTail->next = msgs;
+        else
+            myHead = msgs;
+        myTail = tail;
+    }
+    return TRUE;
+}
+
 /**
 ***  Public Functions
 **/
 
 GtkWidget *
-msgwin_create( TrCore * core )
+msgwin_new( TrCore * core )
 {
-  unsigned int i;
-  GtkListStore * store;
-  GtkWidget * win;
-  GtkWidget * vbox;
-  GtkWidget * levels;
-  GtkWidget * toolbar;
-  GtkWidget * w;
-  GtkWidget * view;
-  GtkWidget * l;
-  GtkCellRenderer * renderer;
-  int ii, curlevel;
-  struct MsgData * data;
+    unsigned int i;
+    GtkListStore * store;
+    GtkWidget * win;
+    GtkWidget * vbox;
+    GtkWidget * levels;
+    GtkWidget * toolbar;
+    GtkWidget * w;
+    GtkWidget * view;
+    GtkWidget * l;
+    GtkCellRenderer * renderer;
+    int ii, curlevel;
+    struct MsgData * data;
 
-  data = &myData;
-  data->core = core;
+    data = g_new0( struct MsgData, 1 );
+    data->core = core;
 
-  win = gtk_window_new( GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL );
-  gtk_window_set_title( GTK_WINDOW( win ), _( "Message Log" ) );
-  gtk_window_set_default_size( GTK_WINDOW( win ), 600, 400 );
-  gtk_window_set_role( GTK_WINDOW( win ), "message-log" );
-  vbox = gtk_vbox_new( FALSE, 0 );
+    win = gtk_window_new( GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL );
+    gtk_window_set_title( GTK_WINDOW( win ), _( "Message Log" ) );
+    gtk_window_set_default_size( GTK_WINDOW( win ), 600, 400 );
+    gtk_window_set_role( GTK_WINDOW( win ), "message-log" );
+    vbox = gtk_vbox_new( FALSE, 0 );
 
-  /**
-  ***  toolbar
-  **/
+    /**
+    ***  toolbar
+    **/
 
-  toolbar = gtk_toolbar_new( );
-  gtk_toolbar_set_style( GTK_TOOLBAR( toolbar), GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ );
+    toolbar = gtk_toolbar_new( );
 
-  gtk_toolbar_insert_stock(GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), GTK_STOCK_SAVE,
-                           NULL, NULL,
-                           G_CALLBACK(onSaveRequest), data, -1);
+    gtk_toolbar_insert_stock( GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), GTK_STOCK_SAVE,
+                              NULL, NULL,
+                              G_CALLBACK(onSaveRequest), data, -1);
 
-  gtk_toolbar_insert_stock(GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), GTK_STOCK_CLEAR,
-                           NULL, NULL,
-                           G_CALLBACK(onClearRequest), data, -1);
+    gtk_toolbar_insert_stock( GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), GTK_STOCK_CLEAR,
+                              NULL, NULL,
+                              G_CALLBACK(onClearRequest), data, -1);
 
-  gtk_toolbar_insert_space(GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), -1);
+    gtk_toolbar_insert_space(GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar), -1);
 
 
-  l = gtk_label_new( _( "Level" ) );
-  gtk_misc_set_padding( GTK_MISC( l ), GUI_PAD, 0 );
-  gtk_toolbar_append_element(GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar),
-                             GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, l,
-                             NULL, _("Set the verbosity level"),
-                             NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    l = gtk_label_new( _( "Level" ) );
+    gtk_misc_set_padding( GTK_MISC( l ), GUI_PAD, 0 );
+    gtk_toolbar_append_element( GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar),
+                                GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, l,
+                                NULL, _("Set the verbosity level"),
+                                NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
-  w = gtk_alignment_new( 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f );
-  gtk_widget_set_size_request( w, GUI_PAD_SMALL, GUI_PAD_SMALL );
-  gtk_toolbar_append_element( GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar),
-                              GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, w,
-                              NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    w = gtk_alignment_new( 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f );
+    gtk_widget_set_size_request( w, GUI_PAD_SMALL, GUI_PAD_SMALL );
+    gtk_toolbar_append_element( GTK_TOOLBAR(toolbar),
+                                GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, w,
+                                NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
-  store = gtk_list_store_new (2, G_TYPE_STRING, G_TYPE_INT);
+    store = gtk_list_store_new (2, G_TYPE_STRING, G_TYPE_INT);
 
-  curlevel = pref_int_get( PREF_KEY_MSGLEVEL );
-  for( i=ii=0; i<G_N_ELEMENTS(trLevels); ++i ) {
-      GtkTreeIter iter;
-      gtk_list_store_append (store, &iter);
-      gtk_list_store_set (store, &iter, 0, _(trLevels[i].label),
-                                        1, trLevels[i].id,
-                                       -1);
-      if( trLevels[i].id == curlevel )
-          ii = i;
-  }
-  levels = gtk_combo_box_new_with_model (GTK_TREE_MODEL(store));
-  g_object_unref( G_OBJECT( store ) );
-  store = NULL;
+    curlevel = pref_int_get( PREF_KEY_MSGLEVEL );
+    for( i=ii=0; i<G_N_ELEMENTS(trLevels); ++i ) {
+        GtkTreeIter iter;
+        gtk_list_store_append (store, &iter);
+        gtk_list_store_set (store, &iter, 0, _(trLevels[i].label),
+                                          1, trLevels[i].id,
+                                         -1);
+        if( trLevels[i].id == curlevel )
+            ii = i;
+    }
+    levels = gtk_combo_box_new_with_model (GTK_TREE_MODEL(store));
+    g_object_unref( G_OBJECT( store ) );
+    store = NULL;
 
-  renderer = gtk_cell_renderer_text_new ();
-  gtk_cell_layout_pack_start( GTK_CELL_LAYOUT(levels), renderer, TRUE );
-  gtk_cell_layout_set_attributes( GTK_CELL_LAYOUT(levels), renderer,
-                                  "text", 0,
-                                  NULL );
-  gtk_combo_box_set_active( GTK_COMBO_BOX( levels ), ii );
-  g_signal_connect( levels, "changed",
-                    G_CALLBACK(level_combo_changed_cb), data );
+    renderer = gtk_cell_renderer_text_new ();
+    gtk_cell_layout_pack_start( GTK_CELL_LAYOUT(levels), renderer, TRUE );
+    gtk_cell_layout_set_attributes( GTK_CELL_LAYOUT(levels), renderer,
+                                    "text", 0,
+                                    NULL );
+    gtk_combo_box_set_active( GTK_COMBO_BOX( levels ), ii );
+    g_signal_connect( levels, "changed",
+                      G_CALLBACK(level_combo_changed_cb), data );
 
-  gtk_toolbar_append_element( GTK_TOOLBAR( toolbar ),
-                              GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, levels,
-                              NULL, _("Set the verbosity level"),
-                              NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    gtk_toolbar_append_element( GTK_TOOLBAR( toolbar ),
+                                GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_WIDGET, levels,
+                                NULL, _("Set the verbosity level"),
+                                NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
-  gtk_box_pack_start( GTK_BOX( vbox ), toolbar, FALSE, FALSE, 0 );
+    gtk_box_pack_start( GTK_BOX( vbox ), toolbar, FALSE, FALSE, 0 );
 
-  /**
-  ***  messages
-  **/
-
-  view = gtk_tree_view_new_with_model( data->sort );
-  data->view = GTK_TREE_VIEW( view );
-  gtk_tree_view_set_rules_hint( data->view, TRUE );
-  appendColumn( data->view, COL_TIME );
-  appendColumn( data->view, COL_CATEGORY );
-  appendColumn( data->view, COL_MESSAGE );
-  w = gtk_scrolled_window_new( NULL, NULL );
-  gtk_scrolled_window_set_policy( GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW( w ),
-                                  GTK_POLICY_AUTOMATIC,
-                                  GTK_POLICY_AUTOMATIC );
-  gtk_scrolled_window_set_shadow_type( GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW( w ),
-                                       GTK_SHADOW_IN);
-  gtk_container_add( GTK_CONTAINER( w ), view );
-  gtk_box_pack_start( GTK_BOX( vbox ), w, TRUE, TRUE, 0 );
-  gtk_container_add( GTK_CONTAINER( win ), vbox );
-
-
-  msgwin_update( );
-  gtk_widget_show_all( win );
-  return win;
-}
-
-void
-msgwin_loadpref( void )
-{
-    struct MsgData * data = &myData;
+    /**
+    ***  messages
+    **/
 
     data->store = gtk_list_store_new( N_COLUMNS,
                                       G_TYPE_INT,       /* level */
@@ -435,37 +455,35 @@ msgwin_loadpref( void )
                                       G_TYPE_STRING,    /* category */
                                       G_TYPE_STRING,    /* message */
                                       G_TYPE_INT );     /* sequence */
+    addMessages( data->store, myHead );
+    onRefresh( data ); /* much faster to populate *before* it has listeners */
 
     data->filter = gtk_tree_model_filter_new( GTK_TREE_MODEL( data->store ), NULL );
     data->sort = gtk_tree_model_sort_new_with_model( data->filter );
     data->maxLevel = pref_int_get( PREF_KEY_MSGLEVEL );
     gtk_tree_model_filter_set_visible_func( GTK_TREE_MODEL_FILTER( data->filter ),
                                             isRowVisible, data, NULL );
-}
-
-void
-msgwin_update( void )
-{
-    tr_msg_list * i;
-    tr_msg_list * msgs;
-    struct MsgData * data = &myData;
-    static int sequence = 1;
-    const char * default_category = g_get_application_name( );
-
-    msgs = tr_getQueuedMessages();
-    for( i=msgs; i; i=i->next )
-    {
-        GtkTreeIter unused;
-
-        gtk_list_store_insert_with_values( data->store, &unused, -1,
-                                           COL_LEVEL, (int)i->level,
-                                           COL_LINE, i->line,
-                                           COL_FILE, i->file,
-                                           COL_TIME, (uint64_t)i->when,
-                                           COL_CATEGORY, ( i->name ? i->name : default_category ),
-                                           COL_MESSAGE, i->message,
-                                           COL_SEQUENCE, sequence++,
-                                           -1 );
-    }
-    tr_freeMessageList( msgs );
+
+
+    view = gtk_tree_view_new_with_model( data->sort );
+    data->view = GTK_TREE_VIEW( view );
+    gtk_tree_view_set_rules_hint( data->view, TRUE );
+    appendColumn( data->view, COL_TIME );
+    appendColumn( data->view, COL_CATEGORY );
+    appendColumn( data->view, COL_MESSAGE );
+    w = gtk_scrolled_window_new( NULL, NULL );
+    gtk_scrolled_window_set_policy( GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW( w ),
+                                    GTK_POLICY_AUTOMATIC,
+                                    GTK_POLICY_AUTOMATIC );
+    gtk_scrolled_window_set_shadow_type( GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW( w ),
+                                         GTK_SHADOW_IN);
+    gtk_container_add( GTK_CONTAINER( w ), view );
+    gtk_box_pack_start( GTK_BOX( vbox ), w, TRUE, TRUE, 0 );
+    gtk_container_add( GTK_CONTAINER( win ), vbox );
+
+    data->refresh_tag = g_timeout_add( 1000, onRefresh, data );
+    g_object_weak_ref( G_OBJECT( win ), onWindowDestroyed, data );
+
+    gtk_widget_show_all( win );
+    return win;
 }
diff --git a/gtk/msgwin.h b/gtk/msgwin.h
index de4ee68de..c20827bfb 100644
--- a/gtk/msgwin.h
+++ b/gtk/msgwin.h
@@ -1,42 +1,20 @@
-/******************************************************************************
- * $Id$
+/*
+ * This file Copyright (C) 2008 Charles Kerr <charles@rebelbase.com>
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2005-2008 Transmission authors and contributors
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
- * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
- * to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
- * the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
- * and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
- * Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
- * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
- * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
- * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
- * DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
- *****************************************************************************/
+ * This file is licensed by the GPL version 2.  Works owned by the
+ * Transmission project are granted a special exemption to clause 2(b)
+ * so that the bulk of its code can remain under the MIT license. 
+ * This exemption does not extend to derived works not owned by
+ * the Transmission project.
+ * 
+ * $Id:$
+ */
 
 #ifndef TG_MSGWIN_H
 #define TG_MSGWIN_H
 
-#include "tr-core.h"
+struct TrCore;
 
-void
-msgwin_init( void );
+GtkWidget * msgwin_new( struct TrCore * core );
 
-GtkWidget *
-msgwin_create( TrCore* core );
-
-void
-msgwin_update( void );
-
-void
-msgwin_loadpref( void );
-
-#endif /* TG_MSGWIN_H */
+#endif
diff --git a/gtk/torrent-cell-renderer.c b/gtk/torrent-cell-renderer.c
index aa44fc21e..12afbbe49 100644
--- a/gtk/torrent-cell-renderer.c
+++ b/gtk/torrent-cell-renderer.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ getProgressString( const tr_info * info, const tr_stat * torStat )
                   tr_strlsize( buf2, torStat->uploadedEver, sizeof(buf2) ),
                   tr_strlratio( buf3, torStat->ratio, sizeof( buf3 ) ) );
 
-    // add time when downloading
+    /* add time when downloading */
     if( torStat->status == TR_STATUS_DOWNLOAD )
     {
         const int eta = torStat->eta;
diff --git a/gtk/tr-core.c b/gtk/tr-core.c
index edea68532..de97a0639 100644
--- a/gtk/tr-core.c
+++ b/gtk/tr-core.c
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ doCollate( const char * in )
 
     while( in < end ) {
         const gunichar ch = g_utf8_get_char( in );
-        if (!g_unichar_isalnum (ch)) // eat everything before the first alnum
+        if (!g_unichar_isalnum (ch)) /* eat everything before the first alnum */
             in += g_unichar_to_utf8( ch, NULL );
         else
             break;