Imagine Not Waiting 5 Minutes for Your Computer to Boot Up

November 09, 2007

So maybe it's a minor inconvenience. You start up your computer in the morning and then go for a coffee or chit-chat with a coworker. After all, a computer is not a toaster or a microwave or a washing machine. It has lots of computer code that need to be initialized before you can use everything from your software programs to your keyboard, mouse, printer, and USB ports. You can't just push a button and have instant-on access.

But a new software platform from Milpitas, CA-based Phoenix Technologies could give you just that. Called HyperSpace, the operating system can run in parallel with Windows (others cannot) and will allow users immediate access to things like email, DVD movies, Web surfing, calendar, and more. So with HyperSpace, you could start your computer, and in less time than it takes to toast a muffin, you could go straight your email.

It's faster, said Gaurav Banga, Phoenix Technologies' chief technology officer, because instead of loading every piece of code you could ever possibly need, it just loads the essentials, like those for the CPU, memory, mouse, keyboard, screen graphics, and network.

In the meantime, Windows can be taking its good ol' time booting up and when you need to, you can click a button and toggle over to it.

"Our system is the first one that will let you run a small set of applications in Hyperspace and at the same time run Windows. This is completely new," Banga told me.

Phoenix Technologies is working with equipment manufacturers in Asia and expect HyperSpace to be available on PCs sometime next year.

Comments

[Mysterymeat]

Article says you can run email, calendar, etc. while Windows is shaking its boot-up. But can those be windows programs, or do they have to be some other kind of smaller utility? Even the browsers IE and Firefox are Windows apps. Won't they have to wait for Windows to get all the way loaded?