One of the issues with Vista is its slow boot up time, I thought that a comparison between Vista and Ubuntu would be interesting. A stopwatch was used for measurement. In addition to startup, the time it took for an internet browser to load was measured. A computer may appear ready, but background processes may slow it down; therefore, opening a web browser more accurately reveals a machine's readiness. Unnecessary startup processes were also disabled to provide an accurate comparison. Below are the results with a short description of the computers:

2 minutes, 27 seconds. One year old laptop running Vista. 2.0Ghz dual core processor 2Gb RAM

2 minutes, 20 seconds. Four year old laptop running Ubuntu. 1.4Ghz single core processor 1Gb RAM

2 minutes, 20 seconds. Four year old laptop running Ubuntu. 1.4Ghz single core processor 1Gb RAM

1 minute, 29 seconds. Five year old desktop running Ubuntu 1.9Ghz single core processor 512mb RAM

Obviously there are many variables that affect the boot time, but those variables should not have a 2.0Ghz computer booting slower than a single core 1.4Ghz machine. Especially if msconfig was run and unnecessary processes disabled. Also consider that the old 1.4 Ghz laptop is broken (dropped too many times) and only runs on an external USB hard drive.

The above tests are on different computers with different specs. I do have a dual boot computer and also ran the same test, except it was timed from the operating choice menu until a browser was open ready to surf the net. Also to be fair the stopwatch was stopped for the password screen to eliminate that variable.

The laptop is full of software and it is a 2.2Ghz dual core with 2Gb of RAM. It has both Windows Vista and Ubuntu 9.04 installed

With Vista the computer took 3 minutes and 59 seconds before a browser opened. To ensure that times were not reduced from background updates, the test was run again. The second time took only 2 minutes and 54 seconds. The quicker time will be used for this comparison but it is still the slowest time from all the machines. Even with additional software packages, unnecessary startup programs were disabled to speed up its boot.

With Ubuntu, the same laptop took 1 minute and 34 seconds. The linux OS is also loaded with many functional programs. It is a touch screen computer with the software needed to utilize this feature.

Obviously there is more to a computer than just its boot time. The machine that took only 89 seconds to boot up to a browser can not show a clear video from the internet. Youtube and Hulu look like slide shows since they move frame by frame rather than a smooth video. The fastest (2.2Ghz) machine (with the slowest boot times) runs the smoothest video from the internet. What is consistent is that additional software packages slow down boot times on both operating systems. The slowest times come from the fastest machine. The faster computer has more software since it can handle the additional load on the processor. If you are just going to check email and other messages, the old computer with minimal software is the most efficient system for this particular purpose. If you need additional software then you have no choice but to accept the slower boot times.