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Boot Windows Faster, Using Linux
BiOFH writes "TechNewsWorld is reporting that InterVideo has a solution for slow boot times runing Windows XP MCE. 'The new Linux-based InstantOn software -- designed to help Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs boot more quickly -- is aimed at taking advantage of the power of Intel's Pentium processors, not at fixing fragmented hard drives. The software integrates into the computer's BIOS and the operating system.'" According to this article, the software uses a small Linux partition on the user's hard drive. I wonder how BIOSes with hard-wired Microsoft-based DRM would cooperate with this scheme.
Sounds like they are using LinuxBIOS plus some apps for the quick boot option.
Now, the question is, will Joe User start asking himself "Why can't EVERYTHING run this quickly?", and will the companies start realizing that everything CAN, IF they port their stuff to Linux?
(NOTE: Obviously there is one company that is unlikely to take this action, but perhaps others might.)
Of course, there is always the option of embedding Windows into the system ROM as well.
(shudder)
www.eFax.com are spammers
Windows Media Center is meant to be a TiVo clone. In order for it to record the shows you want, you need to leave it up at all time. This stripped-down Linux just isn't going to make the cut... the proper mode of operation is to simply avoid rebooting by leaving it always-up.
". "Ro foresees a market emerging for computers that don't have conventional operating systems but are used in the living room as entertainment devices, right beside TVs.""
He's a genius! Or would have been if he made that statemnt 25 years ago.
Shesh. VCR, has a computer(albiet primitive) cd player, dvd player, stereo, Tivo.
The market is here Ro.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Is everything about Microsoft's DRM? Really, now, is it?
But there is NEVER a reason to shut down a Windows XP computer (if you're not installing anything or changing settings).
There is ALWAYS at least one reason to shut down ANY computer: to save energy when you don't use it!
The Hacker's Guide To The Kernel: Don't panic()!
Slow start up times are the price of using programable, general purpose machines. The ultimate way to reduce startup times is to hardwire the specific functionality you're looking for, as in conventional TVs or stereos.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice, as they say.
KFG
This has to be one of the most misleading articles, and even more misleading /. blurbs I have ever seen. This software has nothing to do with Windows. It's a stripped down version of Linux that has basic media center programs. It "integrates" with the BIOS by "booting" like every other operating system.
If its been on for 92 days then you are surely vulnerable to a number of bugs whose patches require restarts.
What the hell are they taking about?
My XPMCE boots faster than any OS I have ever seen.
I rarely have to reboot. But when I do, it takes less than 30 seconds to boot my machine.
There's also suspend, and it can be almost instant. Suspend to RAM can use less than 5 watts. That's definitely acceptable for a home entertainment system. It's within the range of power used by TVs and VCRs when they're "OFF".
Every dealt with the Power On Self Test of Sun systems? My E3500 takes minutes to get to loading the kernel, because it has to check all eight processors, all 32M/cache, and all 4G/ram.
That 25 seconds is a blessing.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Where does cmacb ever mention XP? Cmacb is talking about something that started to happen in Windows long before XP came out. XP is a fairly quick booting OS, I'll admit, but previous versions of Windows weren't.
:-) Look everyone, Enlightenment v0.4 with the Aliens theme and a dozen applets running on a 386 with 32 megs of RAM. Hey Rocky, watch me pull an X Server hard lockup out of my hat! (but try telneting in to reboot a frozen windows machine...)
However, I think a lot of it is really the GUI and memory resident utilities loading. Try booting Linux into a GNOME session running Enlightenment as the window manager with a ton of applets, buttons and suchlike gewgaws. Almost every Windows box I ever had to service had far too much crap like that running, not to mention spyware. It's a wonder some of them even booted at all, and given a clueless user, a Linux system could be just as bad.
God knows mine was when I first started playing around with X Windows.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Just remind yourself that Slashdot isn't journalism and doesn't need to be held to such standards. Really, it's nothing more than a community blog. Slashdot is a business and to get people to visit the site, they basically troll and wait for comments. Personally, I'm fine with that as usually some comments are more interesting than the actual article.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
I thought EFI was Microsoft's implementation of BIOS. They just picked a well known hardware vendor to introduce their plan.
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/efi.htm
Eeeew, that is horrible. I am siting on a XP machine with a 600MHZ Celeron that boots faster than that.
Run: MsConfig
visit this site and kill some of those services! I have gotten Windows XP down to ~60 megs of RAM right after bootup, ^_^.
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