While it’s definitely wonderful news out of The Verge (opens in new tab) that Microsoft has managed to speed up boot times for Xbox users, it has left us with one very important question. Can we get a little extra boot speed over on the PC side, please?
In the most recent release of the Xbox insider test build for the Xbox Dashboard, Microsoft has managed to shave nearly 5 seconds off the load time of the console. This was achieved by simply making the opening Xbox animation shorter, which is a pretty smart yet obvious seeming move.
Of course, if Microsoft had done this to the excellent original Xbox startup animation I’d riot. That pulsing neon green on black electronic wub wub was a great way to get in the mood to game. The modern day Xbox Series console animation is pedestrian by comparison and can absolutely afford to lose a few seconds from that logo screen without any sweat.
This shorter load time will only be available to those using Energy Saver mode as opposed to Standby, at least for now. Energy Saver is the mode where the Xbox shuts down in between plays to save energy, as opposed to going into a standby sleep mode.
Having Energy Saver does take longer to start up and get back into the action, so that 5 or so second reduction will be appreciated by many. Plus it should also work for Xbox One generation consoles. Hopefully more people will give it a try with that quicker boot up speed and save on their electricity bills.
So if the Xbox logo animation could be cut down for smoother startups, maybe the Windows one could use the same treatment. Thanks to SSDs on PCs and consoles (opens in new tab), boot times are much friendlier than they were in the past, but every second counts. It’s frustrating to learn that you might have been staring at a logo for a little less time and get into the action that bit faster.
The other clear option here for Microsoft is to go back to the days of yore and try to impress us with their logo screens once more. If you’re going to make my device take an extra 10 seconds to load because you want to get that brand association in, at least make it too cool to complain about.
