Ok, i either must be doing something wrong, or this is normal and takes forever to convert.

Lets say i go on a trip and take 200 shots in RAW format.
I get home, open up a software for converting raw > jpeg, select all images and sharpen them all.
Press convert to jpeg with highest quality.
This process now starts and takes ages, can take over 3 hours!

Why? and can i speed up this process? and how?

Reason i ask is, i always take my shots in RAW, so if there is a image i like i can adjust the way i want it, but the other week, i went on a 4wd trip and took over 200 shots and wanting to just convert them to jpeg and save it to a DVD disc, and give it to a friend so he can watch the slides/photo's etc...

If there is nothing i can do, then i will never use RAW shots for people/friends i am shooting for as it takes way too long.

Please help, there must be a better way...

Cheers