Back in 2010 I did a post, In Depth And Highly Scientific Comparison Between Microsoft Windows And Ubuntu , which was a comparision of the boot-up times of Ubuntu 10.04 and Windows Vista: I have had a number of regular (free) upgrades to the Ubuntu system and it now running 14.10 and booting up about the same time ... well, maybe a little lag in step 2 (see below). I've not had a Microsoft Windows machine since Vista but we do have a WIndows 7 laptop in the so I might also compare it ... one day. On to my HP Chromebook (v40.0) - here's the deal: From boot to login: 8.5 seconds From entering my password and loading my Gmail: 10 seconds Logging out: 5 seconds Re-enter password and back to Gmail again: 7 seconds Restart (all the way back to the dual boot): n/a How different 5 years can make; the biggest difference is in step 2, this from 5 years ago: Ubuntu 10.04: 2mins 30secs Windows Vista: 1min 5secs Note that "loading my Gmail" on my Ch