Is Linux really faster than MS Windows ?

[mark at mark.mielke.cc]

On Sat, Mar 05, 2005 at 05:49:16PM +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> developers now have been looking at bringing up the GUI login screen
> earlier in the bootup sequence to improve the *perceived* speed

For multi-tasking operating systems, I think the word 'perceive' here
is a little over-emphasized. If the operating system is not making
100% use of the CPU, the hard disk, and all the various other
components in the system, the operating system is not being as
efficient as it could be.

Having the boot process work in parallel, and allow the user to begin
the login process before the system is fully up is simply making the
most use of the machine, given the same elapsed time. It isn't just a
perception. It's doing a better job of getting more complete in less
time. Why do I need all the servers up for me to login? It's an
operating system limitation for it to not let me login ahead of time.

Luckily, with Linux, it's a limitation that those sufficiently motivated
can explore removing... :-)

mark

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