Windows 8 Boot Time < 7 Seconds. F2 & F8 Keys Won't Interrupt Boot Process.

Microsoft's engineer have optimized the Windows 8 boot time to so little that it now renders the F2 key (to setup BIOS preferences) and F8 key dysfunctional. You no longer will be able to impress your computer illiterate friends with your wizardry of hacking into Window boot process. Microsoft engineer Emily Wilson demos how Windows 8 boots in less than 7 seconds when the OS is stored on SSD. Microsoft says that the hardware and software has advanced to such a level that it has shrunk the time to press the interrupt keys to < 200 ms. Microsoft's Simon Sinofsky in his blog post mentions that fast boot times is something their team wants to preserve.


Windows 8 Options

Microsoft has offered three solutions for the problems that may occur and to give you more control over the boot process. Windows 8 will carry 'Boot Options Menu' that will have all the troubleshooting tools, developer-focused options for Windows startup, method to access firmware BIOS setup and a direction option to boot from other devices like DVD or Flash Drive. The team has also created failover mechanisms that will bring the options menu automatically whenever Windows finds that something is wrong with the boot process. Microsoft will also provide the users with different ways to bring up the options menu even when Windows is working fine.

Those of you who love details may head over to the official MSDN blog post.