For years it's been a running joke by many who use Windows PCs: hit the "on" button to your PC, get up from your desk, get a cup of coffee, talk to three or four co-workers, make a phone call or two and then check the PC again. Maybe, if you're lucky, the PC has booted up and is ready to go.
For Microsoft, the joke can't possibly be funny at this stage of the game.
After using the iPad for a couple of weeks, it's easy to see that one of the under-discussed strengths of the device is this: it turns on in a snap. Whether it's completely powered down (as for an airplane takeoff), or just on "standby," you have practically immediate access to what you want. And don't underestimate "standby" mode either on iPad given the ridiculously long battery life Apple has built into the device.
From completely off to completely booted, the iPad takes about 18 seconds; from standby it's instantaneous. A fresh installation of Windows 7 takes about 30 seconds. A two-year old ThinkPad running Windows XP Professional can take up to two minutes or longer. Two minutes might not seem like much, but when you just need to check an email or a calendar appointment or a flight number, it is.
Now put Apple to the side for a moment. Let's look at the forthcoming release of Ubuntu 10.04. In that realm, developers have been busting it to achieve "instant-on" status of 10-second boot time. They haven't gotten there, yet, according to our tests. But the latest beta version of the software has it booting in 14.1 seconds, according to our stopwatch. On paper, the difference between 30-second boot time and 14.1 second boot time might not seem like a lot. But measured as user experience, that's gargantuan.
Think of the client devices that are now available to the market: PC, notebook, netbook, iPad, smart phone. Think of how use models and lifestyles and business practices are changing. iPad will only accelerate those changes and expectations.
With the market morphing so quickly and users becoming acclimated to getting their data and content in an instant, there is one big question for Windows developers at Microsoft: What are you waiting for?
