noob

I just cam across this: http://serviceweek.mozilla.org: "Mozilla Service Week [Sept. 14-21] is all about community – your community. We want you to find a way to use technology to make a difference in your neighborhood, your school, your library, your town. We welcome any act of service, no matter how small."

I'm sort of familiar with Drupal but haven't had too much experience. I wanted to start this discussion to ask basic/beginner questions.

A question I'm wondering about right now is the out-of-the-box speed of Drupal. I've installed 4, 5, and 6 (not all at once) and they seem to be slow, right out of the box, with no content or any modules. Why is this? Is it a Drupal problem or is my server not optimizing PHP, or something else?

Has anyone else experienced this?

What are your beginner questions?