Windows 8 Fastest Boot Time - 'Windows 8 boots in eight seconds?'
Lookout! What was that? Do my eyes deceive me, or was that a wicked fast boot time from a windows PC? Believe it or not, that is exactly what it was. The MSDN Blog began a series last night on “fundamentals”. The first fundamental they are covering is that of boot time. Steven Sinofsky, President of Windows and Windows Live Division of Microsoft, stated in the blog post’s preamble, “When it comes to talking about “fundamentals” we want to start with boot time – no feature gets talked about and measured more. We designed Windows 8 so that you shouldn’t have to boot all that often (and we are always going to work on reducing the number of required restarts due to patching running code). But when you do boot we want it to be as fast as possible.”
We’ve heard a lot about boot time in the past when it came to Windows, however, Windows 8 may prove to be the real deal this time. The video embedded below, was posted as part of the MSDN blog post. It is an impressive display to say the least. Take a second to watch it. As a matter of fact, why don’t you take the battery out of your laptop, then put it back in, press the power button, and then click to watch the video below. Chances are, your laptop will still be booting up by the time this video demonstration is finished. Yes, it is that impressive.
Without getting too technical, the Windows 8 boot path is sort of a hybrid between the traditional cold boot and hibernation. If you are a real tech junkie then you will appreciate the detail included in their blog. However, if you would like the more condensed version here it is. In Windows 7 the shutdown process included closing user sessions and the kernel session. The kernel session is responsible for services and devices. In windows 8 the user sessions are still closed, but the kernel session is essentially put in a hibernate state. They claim this process improves boot time 30-70% in their tests.
Microsoft has a lot of pressure to get this build right. Now more than ever, Microsoft finds itself in a critical situation of either defining the next generation of technology, or being behind the curve. The IPad and Android tablets are quickly redefining the way people access information. Supposedly Windows 8 will be tablet friendly. It will be interesting to see how Windows 8 does in the tablet market, and what impact it will have for desktops. I look forward to see what other revelations come from the MSDN blog in the coming days. What “fundamentals” will they focus on next? Rest assured our team here at Techie Buzz will be keeping a close watch in the coming days.
We’ve heard a lot about boot time in the past when it came to Windows, however, Windows 8 may prove to be the real deal this time. The video embedded below, was posted as part of the MSDN blog post. It is an impressive display to say the least. Take a second to watch it. As a matter of fact, why don’t you take the battery out of your laptop, then put it back in, press the power button, and then click to watch the video below. Chances are, your laptop will still be booting up by the time this video demonstration is finished. Yes, it is that impressive.
Without getting too technical, the Windows 8 boot path is sort of a hybrid between the traditional cold boot and hibernation. If you are a real tech junkie then you will appreciate the detail included in their blog. However, if you would like the more condensed version here it is. In Windows 7 the shutdown process included closing user sessions and the kernel session. The kernel session is responsible for services and devices. In windows 8 the user sessions are still closed, but the kernel session is essentially put in a hibernate state. They claim this process improves boot time 30-70% in their tests.
Microsoft has a lot of pressure to get this build right. Now more than ever, Microsoft finds itself in a critical situation of either defining the next generation of technology, or being behind the curve. The IPad and Android tablets are quickly redefining the way people access information. Supposedly Windows 8 will be tablet friendly. It will be interesting to see how Windows 8 does in the tablet market, and what impact it will have for desktops. I look forward to see what other revelations come from the MSDN blog in the coming days. What “fundamentals” will they focus on next? Rest assured our team here at Techie Buzz will be keeping a close watch in the coming days.
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