Yeah, price will always be more than I can afford. :/

It's not just the fast boot, Win 8/8.1 loads programs faster and generally has better performance than Win 7.

So no, I'm not being conned.   However, if one has a UEFI version on a UEFI BIOS, then boot times are naturally faster.

Actually, Win 10 should be faster because it is more refined/has been teaked to use available hardware better than Win 8/8.1, and if one has a more recent mobo/multi-core CPU combination then it should fly.

I can wait 30 seconds or so for my rig to boot. No problem. Not sure what all the hype about boot time is.

And you're basing that on experience....or the being-lead-by-so-called-experts that you accuse others of?...

In theory [only] 10 would be better than 8 [one would hope], but when it's all about a smidgeon more than a poofteenth it's bugger-all of an improvement.

As to actual fact ....the current 10 is a naive preview that is pre-beta at best so cannot be a reference ...

Ask MS ....they're the ones that changed it all to 'look' faster...

And.....once again....

Nothing to do with the quaint 'hybernation' trick....I didn't mention that at all.

This is about a cold boot and the sequence-change that gives the impression only that the boot has completed by showing the desktop/icons/etc sooner in the sequence.  When you see them the boot is still going.

When you see things such as Fences [and/or other third-party add-ons]  THAT is when the boot has completed....

Note to self.....copy-paste for future mention......

Actually, neither!  MS has run several blogs regarding development and features, etc.... and thus far the experience of others seems to back up the articles I read.  And one would expect that when 10 retail is released, and all the improvements and features are nailed down, it will be even better.

Well sorry but you are wrong in this case
The Supertalent Raid Drive II is capable of writing 3000MB/s and has and 2000MB/w reads, highly doubt that the system is still booting after 2 second - after i see the desktop and icons.( wait I cant see icons since Fences is still not working and requires a right click) but since im not blowing hot air i will actually test it with bootracer next time while at uni ( since i only have one license i´ll love to uninstall just to prove that )
I had a previous post that explained the issue into the last corner once an external is hooked Fences will not load.
I love Fences don’t get me wrong but with (2000MB/w read i mentioned it so one can see that it’s not the users OS causing the issue with that software) it is the software that needs some tweaks .

And while i wrote hibernation it is hybrid boot that is active as standard on win8. (Small files created and saved on disk so that it can boot up faster and has all the drivers incl. last kernel session)
If you want to compare a win8 cold boot with windows7 cold boot _ you can do that still windows8 will be a tad faster
Cold boot or full shutdown
Press WINkey+X choose shutdown (charms bar shutdown is using hybrid shutdown ) 
Also possible via command shutdown /s /f /t 0    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491003.aspx
Try it give me feedback

PS. When i see Fences, with an external drive hooked up my windows is done loading and could have loaded 2 more times.
Still it will require a right click to the desktop for fences to finally show so add 1 more time since clicking will take another second.  

 

It's like car acceleration. 0-60/100 times.

Totally irrelevant.

I agree. My little lappy boots up in just over a minute. No...big...deal.

It's only 'like' those...when you discover one car on the list has been stripped prior to the test...

Of course I am....it's only logical....

The difference between 7 and 8 is the SEQUENCE of service loading.  Both will have a shell load in that sequence.  When people see the shell loaded they assume the boot has finished....and that is because with 7 and all systems previous the shell was last...or near-to last.  The TRICK with 8 is the shell appears sooner in the process giving the impression [via historical assumption] that the OS has therefore finished loading services.

But it hasn't.

WHEN such proggies as Fences is seen to load is when the OS has finalized the services loading and can now allow extra software to initialize.

That happens at the same time...in BOTH 7 and 8 [and all previous].

When a shell-related program [such as much of Stardock's] is added to an OS it needs complicated ties with the shell [GUI] and services...and that cannot happen until the OS lets it...that is....when the OS FINISHES its boot.

On my system there are proggies that finally are up and running AFTER Fences....it's not even last on mine.  Often the last is Sysmetrix...

Hehe How funny this is.  Who really cares if it takes 20 seconds or 30 or even 1 minute.  I really can't see how important that is.  Oh, and last to load on my machine is Yahoo widgets.(W7)

Last to load on mine is ObjectDock

Am probably 1 of the few that still uses Yahoo widgets as they quit supporting them a couple years ago.