System BIOS vendor Phoenix Technology, the company behind the popular Award BIOS software found on several PC motherboards, has come up with a new highly-optimized implementation of UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), that can boot the OS in under one second. This cuts time of the arbitrary 5~15 second (typical) POST process. With this time saved, system startup times are significantly reduced. Startup times are further reduced by the optimized startup procedure on Windows 7.

To put this to test, a Dell Adamo notebook with the technology, was able to reach the Windows Desktop in 20 seconds from the push of the power button, while Lenovo T400 notebooks with faster SSDs reached the Desktop in under 10 seconds. The technology should be out pretty soon.

Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the leader in PC 3.0 products, services and embedded technologies, today announced a partnership with ASUS to accelerate the adoption of its award-winning HyperSpace product by consumers worldwide. HyperSpace is a revolutionary new instant-on and always-connected application environment that makes operating a mobile PC as easy and efficient as operating a cell phone.

Based on the partnership agreement, ASUS will incorporate HyperSpace into its next generation notebooks. With HyperSpace-installed notebooks, users can instantly launch important web-based applications (before Windows ever boots), automatically connect to the best available network, dramatically extend battery life and achieve new levels of uptime and security protection. HyperSpace is available for download at hyperspace.com

Phoenix Technologies, a company well-known for providing the BIOSes used by numerous motherboard manufacturers, is planning a new technology which could allow users to bypass Windows when launching regularly used applications. Known as HyperSpace, Phoenix wants to give users the ability to load software such as email clients, web browsers and media players without the need to first load Windows - this means the programs load almost instantly, saving the user quite a bit of time if they're in a hurry. The company eventually sees the potential for companies like Dell and Lenovo to ship PCs with a range of software from word processors to instant messaging pre-loaded so that they can be launched via HyperSpace with Windows only being required for the more complex applications and multitasking. This technology could also see a dramatic increase in battery life - when running using HyperSpace, some programs will use just half the power compared to when they are launched in Windows. Woody Hobbs, CEO of Phoenix Technologies, said the following:

As Windows gets more and more complex, we've seen startup times get longer and longer. If I go to the airport and try to connect to a Wi-Fi network, I'm waiting for five minutes just to connect. That's ridiculous - people usually just give up and use their cell phones or PDAs.