MBP Running Problems

Hello all:

Okay, I know there have been thousands of posts like mine, but I thought I would just throw my situation out there and hope for some quick feedback.

As I have recently started using Final Cut Pro a lot as well as using some music and graphic apps, I decided a while back to get a MBP. I bought an almost new MBP a year ago and have not had any problems with it until the past few weeks.

Basically, after it has been on for a few hours everything starts to slow down. Internet drags (safari or firefox) and the graphic programs as well start to drag. Now, although I am not a seasoned MAC veteran, I am quite decent at maintenance and the like. On my PC I run defrags and all that frequently. I have also started using Macsweeper on my MBP to see if that helps, but it does not.

So. If you care to help I would really appreciate it.

Here is, in point form, what I do on my Mac on a daily basis:

1) Use Mail, skype, firefox, or safari, to chat with friends, family and get news etc...

2) Use transmission to download different things (Tv shows, music, etc...)

3) Use Dreamweaver and Photoshop (Illustrator occasionally) to design web sites, flyers, etc...

4) Itunes for music ...

5) Final cut pro (Maybe twice a week)

6) Manage HD space. I have two external drives with a tera byte total between them and my MAC HD has 30% free space.

That's about it really.

So. My question is: What should I do to increase speed? Are there any suggestions for maintenance and the like? How do I optimally run my MBP? Can anyone recommend any good sites on how to run MBPs well? What are your secrets?

I have pasted my MBP's specs below.

I am running OSX 10.4.11 and am planning on upgrading in a few months to Panther, so before that I would like to learn how to optimize my baby.

Any/all comments are appreciated. Sorry for the length of my post.

Cheers,
E

Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,2
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz