OK. this has probably been true for many versions previous. But since ORD takes about 100 times longer to open files, it is a real problem and is contrary to being a good Windows citizen.
ORD will launch itself to the foreground and steal focus from every other program. Here's an example: I need to open a DGN file in ORD, or even just switch between DGN files. As we all know, this can tale in excess of 2 minutes and often more than 5 minutes. (Sheesh) So, I've already got coffee, at least I can use the time to answer an email or fill out my time sheet. Then, two minutes later, ORD steals focus and my email typing is now focused into ORD. (Loud scream) But at least my file is finally open, right? Well, no. ORD is still spinnning and doing something else for another minute or two. So back to my email. Just to have ORD steal focus again.
Please stop this.
I have found that leaving the Explorer closed helps in general with speed but the problem is that explorer is fundamental to the software so I end up toggling it on and off a million times a day. The software is simply not fast enough at gathering everything to populate and keep the dialog up to date. Have you tried closing explorer, saving settings, the closing and reopening the file to see it if that is any faster?