Best practices for popup-like mcs?

Hi guys! I need a bit of advice.

Which is the most efficient and “best” way to present popup-like movieclips?

Visible, loadmovie, or mcs with empty first frames?

I’m making a Flash simulation of a fairly usual looking Windows-based application (actually, it’s based on Maya, not that that changes anything). Naturally, everything’s more or less pop-up based or tab based. I’ve been doing everything as _visible, but the thing lags like… uh… something that ought not to be mentioned in polite company.

(It should probably be noted here that I only took up Actionscript two or three months ago and I reckon I’ve come quite a way since. As such, I’m constantly finding new ways to improve what I’ve already done, which is making me a very inefficient worker! Damn I hate being a perfectionist.)

Any discussion would be appreciated. Cheers!