Windows 8

[HC_Chief]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

That seems to imply that booting up, in particular, should be much faster on Windows 8.

That's the opposite of my experience actually.

Even after going into the user controls and removing the mandatory login, etc., the off-to-usable time on Windows 7 is about 10% less.

Could be crap in the startup slowing you down. Once you're in W8, launch Task Manager and switch to the Startup tab. Disable the crap you don't need at startup there. It can make a HUGE difference in boot times (this holds true for W7 as well)