Tunes 7 bugs: doesn't Apple test software before releasing it? shows something I did not know. While I have done many things to make Apple iTunes not stop for up to 10 seconds after it finishes a song, I did not address the Quicktime Control Panel options. It turns out that you need to have the audio in safe mode. Now my iTunes works much better!

I selected the Audio tab. Then click on the check box that says "Safe Mode (waveOut only)". I am not sure what that means, but I haven't had nearly as many problems with the music and screen freezing for 10 seconds. It was a lot easier then screwing around with the registry!

Thank you New Zealand iTune users!