[TheSun]

Do you know how the updates in Windows start when you turn off your computer, and then resume when you turn it back on again? The phase where you turn it on makes booting my Windows laptop take forever. Do updates on the Google Chromebook slow down the boot up process too?

 

[russcasey]

The first time I switched on my series 5 it did take a couple of minutes to download an install an update, so yeah this is an issue exactly as you describe. However, chromeos is MUCH simpler than windows so there is less to update. To replace the entire thing is a manageable download that doesn't take to long.

 

[zora]

So it does take 8 seconds to boot up with some exceptions. Russ, outside of that first time have you timed the boot up process for your Chromebook? Was it really 8 seconds?

 

[BWR]

Was it really 8 seconds?

At most!

Besides being waaaay faster than a Windows notebook, when it finishes booting, all the apps that were running when you shut down, are running again...in that same 8 seconds.

Moreover, if you just close the lid, it goes into standby mode, which seems to be the equivalent of going into hibernate in Windows except that it is almost instantaneous. It does lose the communications connection and that takes a couple seconds to reestablish, but you almost don't notice it. I can open the lid and check my calendar in about the same time that it takes me to do the same on my Android phone and it is in a much more usable form.

 

[russcasey]

BWR is spot on. I've taken to just shutting the lid, as standby doesn't seem to sip the battery at all and you're ready to go immediately. I have turned on the setting that prompts for the password on resume - I'll take the hit on immediacy for the security benefit.

As BWR says, even when you reboot the CB remembers the tabs and windows you had open, so they all pop back really quickly.

Windows will never, ever seem quick again.

 

[russcasey]

Had another update just now. This time it appeared as a subtle change to the wrench menu, which included an 'update chromeos' option. Selecting it prompted me to reboot. 8 seconds later I was back in business. Now to discover what has changed...

 

[BenBarker]

I am sitting here thinking about the fact that I had to wait around 3 minutes for my computer to boot up this morning. I have taken to getting on my smart phone while I wait for it to boot up! Chromebooks are so LEET!

 

[pelloski]

Chromebooks, it seems, will make us hate our PCs and/or smartphones. The times I have had to sit back as Windows claimed to install important updates are uncountable.

 

[modder]

That may be the point, to really play up that one key advantage they have over everything else.

 

[tbull]

And I think that this is a ploy Google is going to comfortably sell to an equally tech-savvy public. I have never known Google to let us down so I choose to remain optimistic about The Chromebook's success.

 

[Liferules]

I've received three updates (2 after the initial one upon 1st getting the chromebook). The other two merely required rebooting the computer. There was absolutely no delay. No "installing" comment boxes, no timer, no percentage until done statements, just rebooted and it was live with the new version.

 

[zora]

Do you know how in windows, sometimes your computer will be like, "Restarting in so and so seconds" and if you don't notice your computer restarts. Does anything like that happen to the Chromebook?

 

[Liferules]

No. Hasn't happened yet. You'll see a notification icon on the wrench asking you to restart to load the update.

 

[Moe]

I agree, I like Google because they are the first real company to challenge Microsoft, which was pretty comfortable with their monopoly. Ok, I know Apple is out there but out of all the people I know only two have an Apple computer and one also has a Microsoft computer. Anyhow, I can't wait for a computer with those boot up times.