A quicker startup
One of the seeming bottlenecks in computing is the time that it takes for a machine to boot up and load Windows. I’m not referring, of course, to starting from standby but to a boot from a completely shut down machine. In fact, the technology for a quick startup has been around for a long time. However, the technology involved temporarily bypassing Windows and naturally Microsoft wasn’t keen on that. So we didn’t get quick starts. But now it looks like the equipment manufacturers are finally going to speed up booting.
Several months ago, John Dvorak noted that the big motherboard manufacturer Asus was going ahead with building quick-starting systems:
The most interesting story the media is downplaying is the ASUS announcement that it will have a ROM boot chip on all its motherboards, which will boot Linux instantly on start-up. When you flick the switch the machine is instantly on. (It’s about time.) Of course, you will have to press another button for the machine to load Windows.
This development is important, since 90 percent of the time all a user wants to do is surf the Web. Often when leaving for a trip, I forget to check the weather. To do so, I would have to start up my computer, wait forever for it to boot, then go online. This way, I just flip it on, and boom—I get a browser and the info and I’m done.
It’s an extremely subversive ploy for a number of reasons. First of all, it gets people used to Linux, gives them a pain-free experience, and provides quick rewards. Second, it shows users that—most of the time—this is all they need. And finally, it makes Windows look like a subsystem not much different from a program that you run under Windows. The psychological effect of this is profound, and the results could be devastating for Microsoft.
And finally the OEMs have begun to do something about slow bootups. The New York Times has just published a story, In Age of Impatience, Cutting Computer Start Time, which reports:
Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo are rolling out machines that give people access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less. Asus, a Taiwanese company that is the world’s largest maker of the circuit boards at the center of every PC, has begun building faster-booting software into its entire product line.
The story notes:
Until Microsoft comes up with a way to greatly shorten the time it takes to load Windows, PC makers are speeding up boot times using programs that bypass Windows. The systems vary technically, but they all rely on a version of an operating system called Linux that gives users quick access to Web browsing and other basic functions of their computer. In some cases, Windows never boots, while in others, Windows starts in the background.
So it looks like Linux may be sneaking into mainstream home use, even if only for a few minutes.
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Not only do personal computers, other high technology electronic devices have at exasperatingly slow to start up.
We have a Sony Blu-ray DVD player that takes a minute-and-a-half to power up. Then takes several seconds to open the DVD tray and several seconds to close the tray. And, on top of that typically takes over minute to load the movie from the DVD. And, to top it all, it will take several minutes more to go through all the notices and promos before playing the movie. I recently timed this experience with one Blu-ray DVD movie and found the entire process took well over 5 minutes!
We have decided to dump the Blu-ray player and go back to our old standard DVD player!