Windows 7 vs Windows Vista Boot Times

Recently, CNET ran an article claiming that Windows 7 boot times are actually slower than the boot times for Windows Vista. Not surprisingly, this shocked a lot of people who thought the opposite was true. Before taking that news as face value, though, lets examine the data. First of all, the source for the news is a little suspect: the company, Iolo, who provided the info, is known for its “System Mechanic” software. According to their website, System Mechanic is designed to boost Windows speeds up to 800%. Specifically, the software has a myriad of optimization tools for achieving better boot times. Perhaps a little conflict of interest there?

While I’m sure System Mechanic is a fine product, it’s odd that the only news about slower boot times in 7 comes from a company selling software designed to speed them up.

Meanwhile, several bloggers wrote of their skepticism surrounding Iolo’s claims. One, Andrew Thomas of TG Daily, even went so far as to run a few tests of his own. His findings, although entirely unscientific, showed his Windows 7 PC went from cold start to desktop in 50 seconds - not the minute, 34 seconds that Iolo said it would take.

Another site, ChannelWeb, ran a few tests too. They found that Windows 7 booted in 53 seconds – that is, until they installed System Mechanic. It then took 2 seconds longer.

BetaNews, not to be left out, tested their Windows 7 and Vista PCs by timing how long it took to go from black screen to login prompt. On Windows 7, the average was 24.14 seconds and on Windows Vista (on the exact same disk, exact same machine), the time was 36.262.

While all tests are somewhat subjective, it should definitely have you questioning the claims Iolo is making. Feel free to run a few experiments of your own and see for yourself.