Updated: April 20, 2009
One of the great promises of the Ubuntu spring release is the shortening of boot times. Alongside a modest range of humble changes, the boot performance is supposed to be one of the major improvements that Jaunty Jackalope brings over Intrepid.
I have recently tested Ubuntu 9.04 and found it to be a good distribution overall. During my testing, I did indeed notice the boot times have improved, but could not really say how much. I promised to check this later on - and here we are!
Introduction
I decided to go for an accurate measurement. I downloaded and installed the Bootchart boot profiling software in both Ubuntu 8.10 and Ubuntu 9.04 and timed the boot sequence. I have already presented the results in the Bootchart article, but being so excited over the results, I created this article, in order to emphasize the importance of my findings.
Both profiles were collected on the same machine, running the same hardware, namely Athlon 3800+ dual core, with 512MB RAM dedicated to the machine. Both versions of the operating system were configured with their default set of services and used default themes. Here are the Bootchart results:
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex
Ibex requires a whole minute and four seconds (64 seconds) to reach the desktop.
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
In comparison, Jaunty takes only 38 seconds to boot!
Jaunty Jackalope boots in half the time compared to Intrepid!
Please note the actual numbers are irrelevant, as they are machine-dependent, but the ratio is important. The results are most incredible - and very pleasing.
Conclusion
Quite a lot of criticism has been vectored toward Ubuntu, as being sluggish and slow to boot, with things getting worse with each new release. Jaunty eliminates the criticism with one fell swoop. I'm very pleased. And so should you be. Have fun, enjoy and spread the word!
Cheers.