One of Microsoft's promises for Windows ME was a faster startup time; therefore, we should expect that to be true. Other than the tweaked core of the OS, the fact that the networking core is borrowed from the more efficient Windows 2000 version instead of the slow Windows 9x version, means that we should expect start up times to take up even less time.

We tested the time it took for both operating systems to start up and shut down. To test the start up time, we pressed F8 to get into the start up menu, then started timing when we selected the "Normal" option and stopped when the network log in screen appeared. For shutdown, we timed from when we pressed the "OK" button on the shutdown dialog to when the power LED on the case of our computer turned off.

From the looks of this test, it seems like Microsoft's claims of Windows ME's fastest start-up time was false. The startup time between both OS's were exactly the same; however, the shutdown of Windows ME was a tad faster. This could attribute to the more efficient networking core of Windows ME which allows the OS to disconnect faster. With this in mind, it must also mean that the overal start up time of Windows ME is actually slower than Windows 98 as even with the slower networking core, Windows 98 started up at the same speed as Windows ME.

On to: Benchmark Results