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Microsoft Considers "Instant On" Windows

Barence writes "In what might be a glimpse of things to come in Windows 7, Microsoft is asking customers whether they would be interested in a new 'Instant-on' version of Windows. 'We would like your feedback on a new concept,' the Microsoft survey states. 'The Instant On experience is different from "Full Windows" because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you can have access to.' Sounds interesting but hardly new: Asus and Dell have produced laptops that provide swift access to apps and data using Linux subsystems."

18 of 440 comments (clear)

  1. My opinion by harris+s+newman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In all honesty, I love the multiple minutes it takes to bring up windows now. Instant on would be a detriment.

    1. Re:My opinion by danwesnor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As an alternative, they could just make "sleep" mode actually work.

  2. Yes because as we all know... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ANYTHING that Windows wants to do to improve sucks and linux has already done it, done it better, cured cancer, etc.

    Seriously is there anyone on /. that isn't a "me too, me too" Microsoft sucks, Linux is good person?

    Jesus this is like Digg more and more everyday.

    OK bitches mod me down now.

  3. Why give an option? by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Certainly there must be a way to offer these "instant on" apps while the rest of the subsystems load in the background. And if that's true then there's no need for an option, just always do it. It sounds like it's only an all-or-nothing proposition because they're copying the way others are currently doing it.

  4. Nope. by geekoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Instant on is useless if you can't do everything you want; which is what this is.

    How about an don't need to reboot version?

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  5. Nothing new here....Headlights. by Ostracus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Why is it that Microsoft has no original ideas of their own?"

    One could very well ask FOSS the same question. Any takers?

    "The worse part of this whole thing is, Microsoft convinces the public that their idea is something new!!!"

    Like Apple?

    --
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  6. If you wanted an uptime contest... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Look, I can beat you in an uptime contest. Observe:
    1. 13:27:54 up 29 days, 19:11, 8 users, load average: 0.01, 0.06, 0.07
    2. 13:33:46 up 101 days, 4:32, 1 user, load average: 0.20, 0.05, 0.01

    But I can think of plenty of reasons to turn a notebook off. For example, a kernel update (we get those a lot in Fedora). Or a hardware upgrade. Or a low battery. Or extended storage. Or, if you are using a dual-boot system, to switch OSes.

    --
    Palm trees and 8
    1. Re:If you wanted an uptime contest... by Almahtar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Screw this, guys. Let's compare penis sizes! Woo!

  7. Re:What an original idea - NOT! by jonnythan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No one said it was an original idea.

    Does it need to be an original idea for them to implement it? Are only original ideas worth adding to an OS?

  8. Well, that explains it all again by yttrstein · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The very fact that Microsoft as an organization cannot see that an "instant on" operating system would be a really, really major boon for them (my god, its so obvious my CAT is nodding) casts the entire company in a very, very bleak light.

  9. Re:What an original idea - NOT! by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Does it need to be an original idea for them to implement it?"

    Only if it is Microsoft - the bar is higher for them because nobody likes the company.

  10. Re:Uptime... by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Bingo, the real world is that people have to reboot their laptops far too often because of problems with docking and un-docking. Instead of instant booting to a toy OS, I'd rather MS focus their resources on getting ALL the corner cases of hibernation to work right (multiple/external displays, intermittent network availability, external and network hard drives, etc).

    The only practical way this will ever work is coercing hardware manufacturers to stick to more specific standards. In practice, ACPI hasn't solved it.

  11. FOSS is innovation - just a different kind by Rob+Y. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People always claim that FOSS (usually they just mean Linux, and in particular the KDE and GNOME desktops) just copies Microsoft and/or Apple, so "where's the innovation".

    Well, this is where. FOSS made it possible for Asus and Dell to think about instant on computing. With Windows, you'd only have it if Microsoft came up with the idea. With Linux, anyone is free to come up with the idea. Even people not associated with Linux development per se.

    That's what open source innovation is about. Providing the freedom to innovate. Yes Linux is still playing catchup (to a limited extent these days) in matching mainstream desktop functionality and in keeping up with all the closed de-facto 'standards' that keep appearing due to the fact that the marketplace is still a heavily distorted Monopoly dominated one.

    So don't expect a new desktop paradigm (which most people probably don't even want). But expect a host of new devices (EeePC, Android, TiVo, etc) made possible by the true open source innovation - freedom to reuse.

    --
    Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
  12. Re:Finally some progress... by jimmyhat3939 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was actually kind of excited when I read the headline here. I thought maybe they were going to propose bringing up the full OS "instantly." This limited OS thing doesn't seem particularly useful to me. My Dell laptop already has an "instant on" media player thing, and I never use it.

    --
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  13. Re:Next Windows should be Windows Verde by denis-The-menace · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Too bad they didn't use the BIOS or Wake-on-LAN to turn the PC 10 minutes before your shift starts.

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  14. Re:Next Windows should be Windows Verde by Moridineas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I imagine in most cases it's the login rather than the boot itself that takes the time....

  15. Re:Next Windows should be Windows Verde by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I imagine in most cases it's the login rather than the boot itself that takes the time....

    Mod parent up. Booting up an XP machine is often a lot faster than the time it takes to login, and wait for the OS to become responsive as it loads all the startup crap.

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    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  16. Re:Hype and Power management failure. by dedazo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After reading your journal entry, I'm a little confused on how you believe Microsoft "intentionally sabotaged" power management under Linux? Of all the evidence presented in the Iowa case, surely you have something more specific than an email that proves nothing at all other than Bill Gates' reluctance to release something for free?

    Also, if your claim that Microsoft somehow crippled ACPI (and/or APM) to hurt Linux... how come ACPI works as well (or as badly, depending on your hardware) as it does on Windows? Specifically, if Microsoft, *BSD and Linux all implement the same open standard, how is that intentional sabotage by "M$"?

    And, going back to your journal entry, I see you never did reply to any of the posts that challenge your interpretation of this problem. Why is that?

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