Poor Performance with tables in Internet Explorer 8 Standards Mode

Question

When using a table with a reasonable amount of data - 100 rows by 50 columns - I notice that IE8 performance degrades unacceptably (only in IE8 standards rendering mode). The CP

Answer 1

The issue isn't confined to tables. I've seen similar issues with other elements on the page. Check out this example with buttons: Poor Performance with IE8 Standards

Sure 500 buttons is excessive, but the same page renders perfectly using IE7 standards and in other browsers. I want to know what is causing this and how it can be fixed.