Blazing Fast: Windows 8 Install Time Would Only Allow You To Make A Cup Of Tea

Microsoft revealed it reduced the install time of Windows 8 from Windows 7 by five minutes on a virtual machine. Users upgrading will also see an increase in time due to the widespread improvements.

Ten minutes to install Windows 8, Microsoft reveals, though it’s a big longer if you’re upgrading

We’ve seen that Windows 8 is a super fast operating system, boosting so fast you can’t get the BIOS running even if you’re mashing the keyboard. Microsoft also revealed recently that the install time for Windows 8 on a virtual machine is ten minutes, compared to 15 minutes when installing Windows 7. I’m wondering who’s going to be running Windows 8 on a virtual machine.

Though you’re right to think that’s not an accurate representation of a system could be upgrading. For machines with a small amount of apps installed, 20 minutes from Windows 7 is the claimed time. Similarly, a machine filled with apps will take 30 minutes to install Windows 8. Still, that’s a quick install time.

A Smaller Upgrade, But Not By Much

A reason may be because Windows 8 is smaller than Windows 7: it uses 7.76GB compared to Windows 7′s 8GB. Microsoft claimed the improvements are due to the user sate migration tool 4.0 and Windows preinstallation environment. The software giant said the upgrade should be sooth providing you don’t have software or drive incompatibility issues.

Whether you can download Windows 8 digitally at launch is a different question. Apple’s launch of OS X Mountain Lion most recently saw downloads struggle due to large demand. Regardless of whether users like or dislike Windows 8, demand is likely to be similar.

To be honest when I installed Windows 7 on a fresh machine it was quick. I’d prefer if I could choose an automated setup from the beginning rather than having to wait for options to appear to continue the installation. I don’t really like sitting around doing nothing while I’m installing Windows or another operating system.

More interesting is how Windows 8 holds up over time. Will I still be able to seamlessly switch between both versions of the operating system?

Windows 8 launches October 26, when we’ll see.