Telerik RADControls for WPF : Improving performance

Question

Today I started using the WPF controls on a small dev project. One solution with three projects (a function library, a console app for testing, and a WPF app for the main UI deliverable) The form has less than a dozen controls at this time (a couple of textboxes, some buttons, and the form itself). The controls are a mix of Microsoft and Telerik controls. Performance was fine until I started switching out MS buttons for Telerik buttons. Now it takes several seconds for VS to respond after selecting a control. Selecting a line in the XAML view and then jumping back to the designer view (split screen) takes 4-5 seconds. Working with VS like this is truly unacceptable and I find it really hard to believe it's Telerik. If it is, how can anyone work like that?

Do you have any suggestions for troubleshooting this? Recommendations for improving performance?

edit:

• All development and testing is done locally.
• All software and libraries installed locally.
• There is no network involved.
• Resharper 4.5, CodeSmith 5.2, and dotTrace 3.1 are installed.

Answer 1

I worked with Silverlight not long ago and got fed up with the VS designer. So I stopped using it and set VS to display only the xaml code and used Blend instead for the designer bit that couldn't be done directly in the xaml.

1. Right-click on a XAML file in the Solution Explorer
2. Select "Open With..."
3. Select "Source Code (Text) Editor"
4. Click on "Set as Default"
5. Click OK

Hope the WPF designer will be faster in VS 2010