With the launch of Windows 7 upon us, its a good time to look at the future of instant-on in the post-Vista era. Windows 7 is bringing a slew of usability improvements. I’ve been using a Win 7 release candidate for months now, and have appreciated the performance, the new dock design, and Microsoft’s decision to get rid of the countless security warnings that we came to equate with Vista. From the early pre-release days of Win 7, there have also been repeated claims of “near instant-on” boot performance. Those turned out to be far from reality.
We experimented with Windows 7 boot times, and did not find improvements over Vista’s. Watch our video comparing Windows 7 and Splashtop boot at the bottom of the post, and don’t take our word for it: Walt Mossberg’s authoritative, and otherwise glowing review of Windows 7 calls Win 7 boot and restart times “glacial.”
Detailed research from iolo technologies, quoted by CNET and others, shows that a brand-new machine running Windows 7 takes 1 minute and 34 seconds to become usable, compared to 1:06 for Vista. Win 7 boot, in other words, is 42% slower.
A further issue, known as “Windows Rot,” comes after a few months of use. For a three-month-old PC, Win 7 took 2 minutes and 34 seconds to boot, a whopping 60% slower than 1:34 or so for Vista.
The benefits of Splashtop, a complementary instant-on environment, remain very much unchanged with the transition from Vista to Win 7. Our desire to get to the web browser without waiting for the OS is getting stronger and stronger, as web applications take over from local apps. And we have also been working on our dock design, usability for netbooks, and other product improvements. Blog posts over the next few weeks will compare these Splashtop improvements with corresponding Windows 7 features.
Here is the video comparing Splashtop and Windows 7 boot times on the same hardware:
(We did not bother launching IE in Windows 7, but you get the point.)
HP has just announced their new lineup of netbooks and notebooks. We at DeviceVM are excited to point out that a number of new systems feature HP QuickWeb functionality, powered by Splashtop. As HP explains:
“QuickWeb allows users to access the web in seconds when the notebook is shut down. The application resides outside the notebook’s operating system, so there is no need to wait for the computer to boot up.”
With the world’s largest PC maker fully embracing instant-on technology, the day when all of us can browse the Web instantly is now upon us. Here is a screenshot of the new QuickWeb browser in action:
A number of publications have covered the announcement and are reviewing the products:
I borrowed the headline from Technologizer, where Harry McCracken is running a poll to see how quickly people get online in the morning. At the time I voted and saw the results, 43% of respondents claimed to get online before they actually got up - they keep their computers or phones by the bed. For a full 78% of respondents, going online competes with or comes before getting breakfast or walking their dog. Despite millions of unhappy pooches, NY Times reports that waking up to check e-mail and Facebook or Twitter accounts is the new reality of the American morning.
As an enabler of instant-on web browsing, we love these trends. We think that everyone should be able to just turn on their PC and start browsing without waiting. And having the PC illuminating the room at night with its blinking lights is lame - it really should be completely off. With Splashtop, you can turn it on instantly any time you need it.
We also observe that browsing is no longer just one of the things you do on a computer. It is The thing that gets people up, it is the reason why the PC is by the bed, and why the dog gets less walking time. Most of the time, browsing is the only thing people do on a PC. With Splashtop, we turn the PC into an awesome browsing appliance that will be ready for you when… you are finally awake.
In its corporate blog post, Google outlined the vision for the Google Chrome OS. This is an exciting development, and validates and reflects what we have been seeing with Splashtop - people want instant-on computing; an easy-to-use interface; and a secure environment with no worries about malware or viruses. Here is how Google explains the motivation behind Chrome OS:
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them.
We could not have said it better! Of course, the market has been moving towards instant-on computing for a while now, and DeviceVM has already seen tremendous success in the space: tens of millions of PCs already shipped with Splashtop, and our announced and shipping customers include HP, Acer, Sony, Lenovo, ASUS, and LG. By the end of 2010, Splashtop will be in the hands of more than 150M desktop, nettop, notebook, and netbook users.
Instant-on became possible because of the web. In the past, computing was all about heavy native applications. Today, most of what we do is in the browser, and “applications” are things like webmail, Twitter, listening to Pandora or watching YouTube. By focusing first on the web, unlike traditional operating systems, Splashtop gets you started in seconds. This also appears to be the direction Google is taking with Chrome OS: “For application developers, the web is the platform.”
The world of web content and apps is diverse. Most popular services in China, for example, are quite different from those in the US (check out http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/CN - Google.cn is in fourth place there). To that end, we have been working with a number of leading regional brands to bring more relevant web services to Splashtop users around the world. Stay tuned for more to come on that!
Yesterday Intel announced that they were buying Wind River, a big name in the embedded OS market whose software shipped on everything from cars to the Mars Rover. Trying to sort out what the acquisition means, I asked a few questions to our CEO, Mark Lee. Before starting OSA (acquired by Avocent) and DeviceVM, Mark had spent 8 years at Intel - so he would know.
Q: Mark, why did Intel buy Wind River? A: Intel is smart to look to move up the value stack, but the purchase of Wind River is questionable. A software business is about the people, the talents. Wind River’s expertise is largely around VxWorks, a proprietary OS that continues to lose ground to open source Linux. The embedded software business model is complex, since Wind River serves many different verticals. There are lots of professional services and complex licensing schemes. Intel’s business model is about scalability. The two don’t jive well together.
Q: WindRiver was also refocusing on Linux, wasn’t it? A: Yes, but there are many stronger Linux players who have no legacy baggage. Intel has been evangelizing Moblin Linux to different Linux OSVs, like Novell, Ubuntu, Xandros, Red Flag - including Wind River. Now the company in effect is competing with these partners - Intel calls them “fellow travelers”. Ironically, out of all Moblin OSVs, Wind River is the only one without any major netbook or MID OEM wins.
Q: What do you think of the ecosystem impact of the Wind River acquisition beyond Linux players? A: The majority of Wind River’s silicon partners are non-x86: ARM, MIPS, PPC, Sparc, etc. They are Intel competitors. It is hard to see any of these companies continuing to work with Wind River. Much of Wind River non-x86 revenue and customer base will likely go away. I don’t know nor see any non-x86 device manufacturer will move to Intel Atom just because Wind River is optimized for Atom. If more devices move to Atom, it will be on the hardware merits of Atom, and because of the expanding success of Linux overall. With our Splashtop, for example, we are building a great instant-on Linux platform to make Atom more successful.
When netbooks first came out, we were looking at them through the prism of the One Laptop Per Child project. They were expected to sell in developing countries, and become the first PCs for people who could not afford a regular notebook. Things turned out very differently.
Research from DigiTimes indicates that 40% of netbooks shipped in 2008 went into Western Europe, while 26% were bought in North America, and 7% in Japan. Developed countries add up to some 73% of netbook shipments. The share of netbooks sold in developed countries turns out to be greater than that of notebooks, reported at 62%.
The implications for netbook usage models are enormous. For most users in developed countries, netbooks are mobile companions purchased in addition to the owner’s primary PC – perhaps a full-size notebook they got from work, or a desktop at home with their media library. Sol, one of our own, swears by his Lenovo S10, although it is not his only PC by a long shot (read more about Sol’s netbook experiences).
Data from a research subsidiary of Yahoo Japan confirms this companion usage: 78% of netbooks purchased in Japan are a second PC for the purchaser. This companion usage, by the way, is exactly what Splashtop excels at – we are an instant-on web-centric complementary environment, rather than a general-purpose OS.
We have not seen good world-wide data on netbook usage patterns yet, but here are a few comparisons between netbook and notebook users in Japan:
40% use netbooks in cafes (compared to 4% for notebook users)
28% use netbooks while commuting (compared to 1% for notebooks). Remember, this is a country with good public transport.
In the living room, on the other hand, 61% of notebook users do their thing, but only 43% use netbooks. Kind of makes sense – living room couches are stationary, you are not in a rush, and the power outlet is near.
Given how much of netbook usage is mobile, things like 3G connectivity are a big deal. Today we are welcoming into this world a new 3G-enabled netbook from Lenovo, the S10-2, which has Splashtop-powered Quick Start feature, and will ship worldwide. Whether one sells in Europe, the US, Asia Pacific or, perhaps, the “rest for the world”, we are happy that people will be enjoying the instant-on connected experience of Splashtop in the cafes, on public transport, and in their living rooms.
You should consider unplugging that new plasma TV, at least when you are not watching it. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a plasma TV sucks down $165 of electricity a year in standby mode.
“Stop Your Electronics’ Vampire Power Waste,” an article by JR Raphael at PC World, goes on to list other top culprits in your home. A desktop PC is near the top of the list at $6.20 wasted while in standby. This number hides a bigger problem - many desktop PCs are ‘on’ 247. Frustrated with slow boot times, people simply never turn off their computers. It is one of the problems we are addressing with Splashtop. And a big problem it is. Lets do a quick calculation.
A well designed desktop that is ‘off’ or in standby consumes less than 1 Watt of energy. An idling ‘on’ desktop can easily consume 50 Watts of energy. Which means that it will contribute some $300 to your annual electricity bill.
If your desktop has a Splashtop-powered motherboard, like one of many excellent motherboards from ASUS (who calls the feature “Express Gate”), you can turn it on or off nearly instantly. You no longer need to keep your PC running all the time. The annual savings should be enough for you to buy a sweet new Lenovo S10 netbook with Splashtop - or whatever is the hottest gizmo a year from now.
PC makers send us their new models early in the design process, so we can fully optimize Splashtop before these new computers show up at your local Best Buy.
Sometimes, Splashtop Labs receive a PC even before its physical casing has been designed. We figured out that a pizza box makes a good temporary replacement - you can tape the screen, the WiFi antenna, and the web cam to the lid of the box, as you can see in the photo.
Extra bonus points if you can guess which Splashtop-enabled computer this is!
Did you ever wonder what happens when you press the power button on your PC and may see all that text on the screen, before your operating system even starts grinding its wheels?
The first moments of your PC’s consciousness are inhabited by what is known as BIOS. That’s code that wakes up and prepares all the hardware components of you PC. Then it passes control to the operating system. Before Splashtop, operating systems would commonly take a few minutes to get going, so it was no problem for BIOS to also take its time. Many of the tasks BIOS would carry out were not at all required for browsing the web: “Do we have any joysticks connected? No? How about plotters?..”
Now the spotlight is on getting online quickly, and we are working with BIOS makers, as well as the in-house BIOS teams of PC OEMS, to make sure that the overall BIOS + Splashtop experience is as good as possible. We just announced our partnership with Insyde Software. They are a leading BIOS maker. This collaboration is about making sure that when their BIOS and our Splashtop are on the same system, the pieces know what to do to get you online as fast as possible. Besides, the electricity you consume while browsing depends on how well your system can control various hardware components. Being able to talk to the BIOS is handy again!
This is the second post covering the work done in Splashtop Labs to make Splashtop the fastest ever way to get online. For the first story, check here.
People often ask us why it is that they can only get Splashtop as pre-installed software on new PCs, but cannot download it onto their old computer. While some of this has to do with business issues, I want to cover the technical side.
Much of our engineering is dedicated to making Splashtop start up in seconds. After all, this is what people love about Splashtop. It turns out that to do a good job at starting up, you need to do many optimizations for the particular hardware that you run on. Here is an example:
Splashtop Labs have been investigating why some notebooks take longer to start than their apparently identical twins. We tracked the difference down to the different GPUs used in similar notebook versions. We discovered that the way you initialize a particular GPU may add as much as 2 seconds to the boot time – a big deal if you are trying to be up and running in 5! We would like to think that GPU vendors will optimize their products for fast start up, however, we know they have many other priorities. So the buck stops with Splashtop.
To do this level of tuning, we work closely with manufacturers on each new platform, and optimize Splashtop for the particular GPU and other hardware you will be getting. Sounds like a lot of work? It is, but Splashtop is already on dozens of products.
I decided to contribute a few blog posts along Sol’s regular posts, to shed some light on what our team is doing in the Lab to keep Splashtop the fastest way to get online. Stay tuned for more.
As an enabler of instant-on web browsing, we love these trends. We think that everyone should be able to just turn on their PC and start browsing without waiting. And having the PC illuminating the room at night with its blinking lights is lame - it really should be completely off. With Splashtop, you can turn it on instantly any time you need it.
