I hate waiting. I love testing (Linux distros, for example).

Windows used to boot slowly (a Google founder said that Microsoft was torturing users by making Windows boot slowly), then iPad competition came booting fast, then Chrome OS competition came booting fast, now Windows 8 boots in 8 seconds.

I heard what makes this possible for Windows 8 is that the UEFI is faster than the BIOS.

Can I take the BIOS chip out of my computer and place the UEFI chip in my desktop computer?

You're probably going to say: no, so I'll tell you this: if we do nothing, this technology will remain tablet-only, simply because out of the table market, we did nothing to compete with Microsoft.

Unfortunately, I don't know what to do. I have inspirations only. Fedora said it has good hardware contacts. Hardware creator companies are angry on Microsoft, because Microsoft didn't use them in Windows 8 Surface. Does anybody know what to do?

No, you can't change the BIOS chip, but you simply can buy a motherboard that uses UEFI. UEFI is not a tablet only technology.
But I wouldn't even think about buying a Windows 8 tablet, since they are locked down to Windows 8 only. And since I rarely boot I don't care at all about boot times.

Same as TobiSGD, I'm not a (re)boot freak so who really cares if it takes 8 or 28 seconds - even if you do it a few times a day. Also, remember about MS boot times, that is for a windows machine that has no (or few) apps installed and without anti-virus working too - load these and watch that boot time start to climb. As for UEFI and MS trying to lockout non-MS operating systems, it's not the first time MS has tried to kill the opposition with tatics similar to this. They have always failed and I doubt if UEFI will be locked down as severly as a lot are fearing. If MS try to stifle innovation they will no doubt suffer the consequences of lawsuits anyway. It's a circle that just keeps go around and around...

Sadly, I doubt that. They explicitly put statements in the Windows 8 Logo requirements that on x86 hardware (where they have the OS monopoly) Secure Boot must have options to be disabled and that the user can add own custom keys. The lock down takes place only on ARM hardware, where they don't have a monopoly and where it is normally the case by almost any manufacturer that the systems are locked down. No one is sueing Apple for that, I would think, or the manufacturer's of Android devices with locked bootloader.

I think you drink too much coffee. Slow down a bit. Relax.

Windows 8, like Windows 7 and also some linux distro's sort of cheat this so called booted state. Not all processes are running and available for use. So that number is more of a looks ready number. Also there are systems now that have ssd's in them that can boot that fast.

I used to like Windows CE myself. A sort of always on deal. Presto and you can use it.

I am not impressed at all either. I used to have a dos system that booted in a few seconds and was ready to use a word processor. More junk didn't make the thing any faster.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <General> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Took the words right out of my mouth....

Boot a Windows system and watch how long the disk access light keeps flickering after it appears to be ready to go


The only time I would care about boot time would be using an OS that had to be re-booted all the time.....

I've always been amused by the fetish some folks seem to have about boot times.

Turn on computer. Get coffee. Log in. Problem solved.

1 members found this post helpful.

Is there counselling available to people with that fetish?

I am going to reboot right now...

This is a waste of characters/time!
Boot time, why does it matter?

On any blog this is the first things you will see about SSD drives: system boot up time is way so faaaaaast.
And?

Does it really matter if the system boots up in 30 sec or 130?

By the way @frankbell I'm going to make my coffee
Tonight graveyard shift was way too bad... (RAID migration, broken DNS resolver, hacker attack, etc...)
I do know that I'm worth it, just like the Ladies at L'Oréal.

My theory is those people expect their computers to boot as quickly as their telephones.
My telephone is a computer and it is ready to go with a push of a button or opening the lid. My computer is another computer, just bigger. So it should also be instantaneous.
At least, that is my theory.

Hi,

Boot time does matter for certain applications. For embed or controllers it can be a big plus. You do not want a cycle time or hold to be very long for a controller that is task oriented. PC Desktop/Laptop, it would be matter of convenience. For a server it does depend on the enterprise and recovery times along with system(s) syncing.

In general the boot time for most common users then gain can/will be noticed.

“Man is a tool-using animal.”- Carlyle

Rather than quibbling about boot times, I like to play with uptime. For example, I had a laptop, which originally was sold with Windows-95, that had an uptime of a year and a half.

As for Win8, it might startle some people that Microsoft's engineering teams really do know what they are doing ... even if their marketing teams don't.

I get the reason for instant on. I cheat it by turning the computer and then doing some small task. The solution is an embedded OS or some fast drive access. The problems that the OS has become huge. MS never really tied to use assembly to make the smallest footprint.

You can't fix an old computer to speed up. The new OS boot may be on some ssd even or embedded. It is possible to fix it but seems most consumers have never complained that much. They wanted or bought pretty stuff instead.

Windows 8 boots in 8 seconds, eh? Link?

(BTW, I've already checked this out, I just want to see what deltrem links us to)

Nope.

Nope.

Nope. Thanks to microsoft and its win8 requirements, over the next 6 months to 3 years pretty much all x86 hardware will be moving to UEFI.

Not that UEFI is worth it IMO, I'd prefer a tradional BIOS.