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Microsoft Further Discusses Windows 8's Boot Process

Sep. 21, 2011 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

In its first post-BUILD blog post, Microsoft further discusses one of the more incredible things about Windows 8: Its ability to boot from a dead start in just seconds. While incredulous Mac users continue to insist that Windows 8's blink-and-you'll-miss-it boot times must simply be fake, Microsoft says that's not so. Windows 8 is just really, really fast.

"The Windows 8 boot experience will reflect the personality of Windows; it will be fast and fluid, seamless, and beautiful every time," Windows program manager Billie writes in the post. "By leveraging the capabilities of UEFI and working together with the ecosystem, our goal is for the PC to power up to the manufacturer’s logo and stay on that screen all the way from POST to Windows logon UI."

Of course, Microsoft previously described how it achieved the incredible boot times in Windows 8. This time around, it's providing more context around PC booting with the new OS:

Hardware improvements. Windows 8 still supports legacy BIOS interfaces, but also the more efficient and modern Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) found on new PCs. UEFI provides support for unique Windows 8 features like Secure Boot and Managed Boot.

No more boot animation. Windows 8 boots so fast, Microsoft removed the boot animation because it was just slowing down the process. Now, you'll see the manufacturer's logo for a few seconds and then the lock screen.

OOBE. The first time you turn on a Windows 8 PC, you'll step through an improved, touch-capable Setup experience. That means you can set up a Windows 8 PC without having a keyboard or mouse, assuming you have a touch-screen.

Dual-booting. As with previous versions of Windows, you can dual-boot between Windows 8 and its predecessors. But this time around, there's a new graphical (and touch-capable) screen for choosing the OS. You can also change boot options (to put from USB, for example) and access other options, including recovery tools.

I've experimented with every one of these features in the Developer Preview build. And I can tell you from experience on several systems--not just the loaner Samsung 700T slate--that the single seconds long cold boot experience is as real as it is exciting. This really is a new era for Windows, and that's as true on today's PCs as it will be on the new form factors of the future.

Discuss this Article 14

c3141wss
on Sep 21, 2011
Secure boot is dangerous because it allows the hardware vendor, in concert with Microsoft, to dictate what operating systems you can and cannot install on your computer. See : http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/5552.html Secure boot is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt at lock-in. Microsoft is working on concert with the hardware manufacturers here; the requirement to have signed boot files excludes open-source operating systems like Linux, benefiting Microsoft, and, each new version of Windows requires a new set of signed keys which means that your hardware vendor can refuse to sign newer versions of Windows for your "old" computer model, forcing you to upgrade your computer if you want to upgrade to a new version of Windows, even if you meet the hardware requirements. There is no requirement for an off switch for "secure boot". Dell et. al could very easily start shipping hardware that mandates secure boot and then you are locked down. PKI is a sham. In the context of code signing, it's merely a mechanism for corporations to control what you can and cannot install and to control what you can and cannot do with your own legally purchased hardware. PKI puts control of your hardware into the hands of a few elite corporations who have sole authority to grant certificates. From a security standpoint, centralizing control is bad because it prevents single large targets such as Diginotar, that, if hacked, represent a large security breach. If people truly care about security, they should use GnuPG.
yoshipod
on Sep 21, 2011
"While incredulous Mac users continue to insist that Windows 8's blink-and-you'll-miss-it boot times must simply be fake, Microsoft says that's not so. Windows 8 is just really, really fast." No, those who are questioning the fast boot time are simply pointing out that is it a reboot from a previously saved state and not a true cold boot. Now to most users, they won't care about the difference, but it is an important distinction. Will that same fast boot time occur after a system update or recovering from a crash? Or does that only work when the user shuts down the computer properly.
jecouch66
on Sep 21, 2011
@yoshipod I can't say for the updates, but I did the full shutdown that MS explained on my laptop and the start time was only 2 secs longer.
chuckb84
on Sep 21, 2011
"Will that same fast boot time occur after a system update or recovering from a crash? Or does that only work when the user shuts down the computer properly." That's a very good question, because what this "incredulous Mac user" questions is WHY anyone cold boots a computer these days UNLESS it's (1) from a rare crash, (2) after a system update. I just put my Macs to sleep and they are never cold booted except under items 1 and 2 above. Under what other circumstance would you bother with such a thing? It's so 1980's. Uptime on my laptop now is 20 days. Saying 30 seconds every month is just not a big deal. Sleep the computer, don't boot it. This is not a Mac/PC issue, it's just common sense. This is basically a feature no one needs to care about anymore...
Waethorn
on Sep 21, 2011
@yoshipod: WORM boot is also in Windows Embedded. It predates Windows 8 by several years. BTW: How do you know Lion doesn't do the same thing? I just reformatted a 2008 Mac mini (the previous gen Core 2 Duo config with the NVIDIA GF9400 chipset) and Snow Leopard boots up much slower than Lion. I should point out that this system has the original 160GB 5400RPM 2.5" hard drive that was standard in that configuration. Lion boots up fast after a shutdown. When you do a standard restart however, it's far slower. Also, just as a comparison, an iPad 1 takes almost exactly 30 seconds to boot from power down. I'd say Windows 8 looks pretty good in comparison. I tested it in an Atom 330 dual-core nettop - ALSO with an ION chipset - and doing a full restart on Lion is slower than doing a full restart on Windows 8.... That's an ATOM! Beating a Core 2 Duo. Both have 2.5" 5400RPM hard drives and 2GB of RAM too. How do you explain that?
Waethorn
on Sep 21, 2011
Also@yoshipod: When you get those cumulative OS X updates on a Mac, why does it "download" and then "install", and yet it does a second "install" when you go to shutdown or restart? Those also took an extremely long time on that Mac mini. @Brian Hill: Why are you coming here after getting booted off ZDnet? BTW: All of your assumptions are based on AKH's interpretation of a Red Hat developer's heresay. Microsoft hasn't said that UEFI was required for Windows 8 client - just that Secure Boot is required if a hardware developer uses UEFI, and if Linux doesn't want to play in the sandbox, they can opt out - just like the MPEG non-licensing, and DRM letdowns that prevent that platform from creating any real innovation. Until final WHQL certification requirements are published, this IS. STILL. FUD. From the Linux camp no less. Not to mention that you shill an open source program to boot. Just wow, pal.
c3141wss
on Sep 22, 2011
@Waethorn I haven't been booted off of ZDNet. What makes you say that I have? I don't even post on ZDNet. It's not FUD. Read the slides again. (http://video.ch9.ms/build/2011/slides/HW-457T_van_der_Hoeven.pptx). Microsoft will require secure boot to be enabled for the Windows logo program. Every hardware vendor would have to sign the Linux bootloader with the keys for every one of their hardware models. And anytime grub was updated, or a new computer model released, the boot loader would have to be resigned. Given how rapidly open-source software updates and the number of custom patches and forks and Linux distributions, this is impractical. If the hardware vendors do not provide an off switch for secure boot, the computer will not boot any operating system that hasn't been approved by the hardware vendors. This is FACT.
yoshipod
on Sep 22, 2011
I am not saying that OS X is better or that MS did not drastically improve the boot time for Windows 8, which they appear to have done. I was trying to make the point that the super fast boot time is a result of a saved state. As I said, for most users this is fine. They shut down their computers and get a great benefit of a quick boot time when they next power it up. They don't care about a saved state reboot vs. a full reboot. However, that may not be the case for all restarts, which was what I was pointing out. Yet as usual, Paul has to bash Mac users. If Apple did this, Paul would be the first to point out all the situations when the super fast restart would not work. Its just his usual hypocrisy as work here.
Waethorn
on Sep 22, 2011
@Brian Hill: So you aren't the same "Brian Hill" that posted in Adrian's article yesterday on ZDnet, basically proclaiming the same thing - that open source software is at risk? Are you using a pseudonym then? A pseudonym of the open source software developer, advocate, and book author of the same name? BTW: Where in that document does it say that a hardware developer MUST use UEFI for a WHQL-certified system? I read through EVERY document on the subject, and can't find the information anywhere. If you don't want to use Secure Boot, then you can fall back to BIOS Mode. In any case, why would an OEM that designs their system for Linux compatibility care about WHQL certification anyway, hmm? @yoshipod: What I'm saying is that Apple is clearly doing something very similar to Microsoft (optimizing boot for a regular shutdown) and yet you aren't pointing it out. Also, if users don't care about how a shutdown and power on works, why do you? I mean, if Microsoft invented a better solution, why are you so quick to denounce it in favour of Apple? Apple is obviously optimizing boot times for standard shutdown, but full restarts are still slower than they are on Windows 8.
Waethorn
on Sep 22, 2011
Also@Brian Hill: Microsoft wants to tie the OS experience into the hardware for tighter integration, and in the world of reality, hardware makers don't want to open source their firmware because it's their intellectual property. If an OEM really cares that much about being "open", they would put Linux on open source hardware and release the firmware source code. You know, so that they can undercut their own manufacturing process. ...How's that proceeding so far?
dlogie
on Sep 22, 2011
I have always been amazed how mac users lurk and post in Windows comment threads when Windows users have no interest in macs. I guess there isn't enough happening in the mac world to keep them occupied there.
LemonSaucy
on Sep 22, 2011
Windows 8 is pretty, but I have a few concerns: There's no Start menu - unless one says the Metro page is a glorious but underpowered Start menu. Try finding Character Map without using Windows Explorer to find the executable. So far I haven't been able to figure any other way to it but to drill through Explorer and find charmap.exe in the System32 folder. The same goes for WordPad and Notepad and just about everything else unless it is in the Control Panel. The other concern is that when using the Metro apps with a mouse, I find that I'm having to swing the mouse around again and again and again before it catches to the thing I want. Sometimes one swipe does it, sometimes I have to swipe five times or more before I get what I want. It's a real slowdown. It makes me feel like it's some sort of Windows for babies. They really need work. And one more concern: when a Metro app is on, how do I close it? There's no obvious way for some of them at least - something like an X or close button. I've had to resort to Task Manager for several of them now to turn them off as they don't go off on their own. What gives?
qualar
on Sep 23, 2011
@yoshipod why do you come to this site all you do is complain. You are obviously a Mac user so why come to a windows site?
LemonSaucy
on Sep 23, 2011
P.S. Upadte: I'm getting a little more used to using the mouse with Metro, but the other things I mentioned I still wonder about. One can use Search to find Character Map .. but that seems such a long hard way to go about getting to, what for some, is an essential application .. and I simply don't want to have to memorize every character's Alt + Number code! LOL Alt + 0153 I really think they should have a "Start Menu" incorporated into the thing somehow .. the Metro page just doesn't make enough readily available. I found the Metro search, but that requires the user to know the specific executable name or the specific title name of the application .. and it is decidely counter inutiive to DISCOVERY which one can do VISUALLY with the Start menu. Anyway ... it's coming off too much like an App Store marketing scheme and not like serious programmers serving the computing public. If I wanted bull I'd buy an Apple iPad.

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