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images/news/windows.jpgMicrosoft wants to dramatically improve boot times in Windows 7 after admitting that Vista has failed to meet its goal of providing high-speed booting for the majority of PCs. Postings on Microsoft's Engineering Windows 7 blog have so far been notable largely for their ability to say almost "it depends" in response to almost any Windows-related issue, but a new post by engineer Michael Fortin does come close to making some promises about how boot performance — long a thorn in the side of Vista and its predecessors — might be improved.
"For Windows 7, a top goal is to significantly increase the number of systems that experience very good boot times," Fortin wrote. "In the lab, a very good system is one that boots in under 15 seconds."
Microsoft's own internal performance assessment shows that virtually no Vista systems are meeting that goal. Data collected from users via the Customer Experience Improvement Program suggests that only 35% of systems boot within 30 seconds or less. According to Microsoft, 75% of systems boot within 50 seconds.
In practice, you're unlikely to be able to use your machine at that point — this is a measure of 'System Responsive' time, so any applications that load during your startup process will probably hog the system for a while longer. Indeed, Fortin acknowledges that Microsoft's measure doesn't have much to do with actually using your computer: "We realize there are other perceptions that users deem as reflecting boot time, such as when the disk stops, when their apps are fully responsive, or when the start menu and desktop can be used."
Even with that huge caveat, some systems in the data Fortin published display boot times of several minutes, a factor Microsoft partly attributes to system updates which load after booting. As any Vista user knows, when patching is taking place you might as well take a walk to the nearest cafe.
Fortin admits this represents a problem: "From our perspective, too few systems consistently boot fast enough and we have to do much better."
apcmag.com
"For Windows 7, a top goal is to significantly increase the number of systems that experience very good boot times," Fortin wrote. "In the lab, a very good system is one that boots in under 15 seconds."
Microsoft's own internal performance assessment shows that virtually no Vista systems are meeting that goal. Data collected from users via the Customer Experience Improvement Program suggests that only 35% of systems boot within 30 seconds or less. According to Microsoft, 75% of systems boot within 50 seconds.
In practice, you're unlikely to be able to use your machine at that point — this is a measure of 'System Responsive' time, so any applications that load during your startup process will probably hog the system for a while longer. Indeed, Fortin acknowledges that Microsoft's measure doesn't have much to do with actually using your computer: "We realize there are other perceptions that users deem as reflecting boot time, such as when the disk stops, when their apps are fully responsive, or when the start menu and desktop can be used."
Even with that huge caveat, some systems in the data Fortin published display boot times of several minutes, a factor Microsoft partly attributes to system updates which load after booting. As any Vista user knows, when patching is taking place you might as well take a walk to the nearest cafe.
Fortin admits this represents a problem: "From our perspective, too few systems consistently boot fast enough and we have to do much better."
apcmag.com
