Quantifying the ridiculous time it takes to set up a new PC
Every time I set up a new computer it seems to take ages. I’ve wondered how much of that pain were subjective perceptions caused by the number of clicks / restarts vs the actual time taken.
This time I kept note.
The new laptop has both Windows XP and Mac OS installed. I can make comparisons as both Mac and Windows are using the same hardware.
Scorecard Windows XP, using bootcamp. (Note, this could have taken longer: I downloaded Windows updates on an above average speed connection (12Mbps), apps had been downloaded ahead):-
- Windows = 23 minutes for XP itself (SP2).
- Windows updates = 42 minutes. Included four reboots to install and update Windows.
- Drivers = 14m… another reboot
- Windows applications = 124 minutes, including a further two reboots.
Windows total = 203 minutes, or 23 minutes over three hours, with seven reboots. But I’ve not still not migrated across all my data yet or tweaked all the numerous application preferences. The worst of it was that I had to be present for every minute.
Mac OS = Unsure exactly, as I didn’t need to do much and left it running, probably about three hours in total.
The Mac ‘migration assistant’ is one of the Mac’s best kept secrets. It will transfer everything from either another Mac or a Time Machine backup. For me, it copied across all my applications (including third party ones, both paid and free), preferences and documents. I left it running which made it feel painless.
I fell of my chair when I realised what it had successfully done and how much effort it saved me.
Migrating to a Mac is about as painful as migrating from one PC to another. But migrating from an old Mac to a new one is absolutely simple, provided both run Leopard.
I heard about how long it would take to set up Vista, so I was amazed when it did not take too long setting up my new laptop (and the best part is that I only was there every once in a while).
I have also seen programs/cables that are made to transfer over an old computer to a new one. They are about $40, but the price is irrelevant, because you’ll have plenty of $ left over from buying a PC over a Mac…
clintthewookie
December 4, 2008 at 12:37 am
clintthewookie – It’s installing applications and flicking preferences that takes the time. The PC transfer cables you talk about only transfer user data/documents, unlike the Mac migration assistant. Microsoft has been experimenting with application transfer but it’s in test, and only supports a few applications.
The point I’m making here is that the setup experience on Windows is massively slow and flawed.
One thing that didn’t make the cut in the piece, due to my 300 word limit, is that Microsoft updates the Windows CDs that ship with new PCs infrequently. The last real PC I setup, a Toshiba laptop running Vista, took >45m to hit a log-in screen as it was installing bundled demoware… then took another 30-45m to download Windows updates.
The most recent Mac I’ve tested had an up to date version of Mac OS pre-installed.
Ian Fogg
December 4, 2008 at 12:58 am
Oh, so your saying that when you turn on the computer, it’s ready to go?
That’s a great idea, just fill in your user name, set default settings and BAM your done!
There is this tool I’ve seen called “PC Decrapifier” that removes all of the bloatware of a new Windows Computer.
clintthewookie
December 5, 2008 at 2:57 pm
clint – yes and yes.
New Mac – ready to go, no need to download updates. Windows box – have to download all the updates since the last service pack, which come out far too infrequently nowadays.
Transferring to new Mac using Migration tool, yes, all applications, preferences and user data is transferred over. It’s really impressive, especially compared with the equivalent on Windows.
Ian Fogg
December 7, 2008 at 10:36 am
I have been trying out ubuntu 8.04 on my machine and am impressed with it’s tremendous speed.
Wubi makes it extremely easy for any Windows user to try it out with minimal effort.
If there were more linux drivers out there, and with some advertising, I believe Linux could replace windows for home PCs.
clintthewookie
January 12, 2009 at 5:21 am
Ubuntu is incredibly quick and easy to install the OS, plus the applications that are in the package manager it comes with. This in itself makes it quicker to get running from cold than Windows.
But:
1. You still need to migrate all user data: documents, photos, music, preferences etc. across which takes time to make sure everything is put in the right place. This is in contrast to the Mac migration assistant, which manages all that.
2. There’s still a lot of apps that don’t run on Linux, so someone would have to do work/fiddle to migrate user data from one Windows app to a different Ubuntu application.
Ian Fogg
January 12, 2009 at 11:10 pm
It would be nice for an automatic migrator, it wouldn’t be too difficult (by default it could import all the “My folders.”
It couldn’t replace Windows overnight, but it is slowly catching up and if Windows 7 is another failure, Linux might become triumphant!
clintthewookie
January 13, 2009 at 12:20 am