Microsoft Demos Super Fast Boot Times in Windows 8

From PC World: Microsoft has a surprise for users tired of waiting forever while their computers boot up. It will take less than 10 seconds for a Windows 8 PC to go from powered down to the start screen, according to a Microsoft video demonstration. The speedy boot is thanks to a new hybrid system that mixes processes used in cold boots and hibernation mode. Microsoft showed off the new functionality in yet another blog post on its Building Windows 8 blog.

Thanks to the influence of tablets and smartphones, users are more accustomed than ever to having instant-on access to their devices. This can make it feel like you've stepped back into the dark ages while you wait a minute or two for your PC to boot. Nevertheless, more than half of all PC users (57 percent of desktop users and 45 percent of laptop users) opt to turn their devices off instead of letting them go into sleep or hibernation mode where the computer can resume much faster, according to Microsoft data.

Reasons for preferring shut down can vary, Microsoft says, from wanting to save on power or people preferring to start their sessions fresh with no left over processes from earlier (I suspect there's also another group of people who avoid sleep and hibernate, because it never quite works properly on their PCs).

But even though a slight majority prefer to shut down, that still leaves a large chunk of Windows PC users who use sleep and hibernate modes over cold boots. In Windows 8, Microsoft said it wanted to create a shut down process that would appeal to both types of users by hitting three basic goals: nearly zero power draw when the computer is shut off, a fresh session after boot, and a quick startup time.

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