The new and improved showplan in SQL 7 is certainly prettier and easier to understand than the previous version. However, a better method of focusing on trouble spots is using show statistics. Execute your query with this option turned on, and you will get a detailed breakdown of how SQL Server spent its time running your query. Look for the areas that used the most logical I/O (physical I/O depends on what is in cache at the time and is therefore not a good measurement), and you will find the SQL that needs attention.