daemonkin: Please do not hijack threads, this is an issue that is (mostly) unrelated to your issue if I understand you correctly, and you already have multiple threads (and PMs) regarding your issue.
Admins/Mods: If I am overstepping the boundaries, please let me know. But I am just trying to help clean this place up and assist the community, so I gotta say something

The code posted on this board should fix the issues in all browsers on Windows and Linux for both operator and client, which fixes one of your problems (@DaK & @kdebs), however the issue of it causing massive thread usage is another issue. I haven't delved into the code too much, but it sounds like one php script is either calling another, which calls another, etc. . . or javascript is making too many calls when you try and connect/go online.
Now, you say it stops loading when it gets to that graphic, which leads me to expect that the button format you are using is bombing your server with threads. What code are you using for the button?
Spenser