@jeroenk
the synchronization will take some minutes only if you are two or three days behind.
You are right about the initial synchonization, that takes very long.
It will be improved in the next release (0.9.6.2.) and much much better in the future with the 0.11.x and 0.13.x releases of the wallet, as the synchronization method will change in these releases.
Nevertheless 0.11.x/0.13.x will be compatible with the 0.9.6.1 and 0.9.6.2 releases