In looking at the first Alpha release of Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx OS, or Ubuntu 10.04, the boot time on a PC built with an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 at 2.80 GHz and 2 GB of RAM clocked in at 20 seconds.

Next time you start it, you will have the choice between booting Ubuntu or Windows. As Ubuntu is set by default, it will start automatically if you don’t choose within 10 seconds. Images: ...