14 
Windows 8 boots so blisteringly fast that it theoretically gives you only 200 milliseconds to access the BIOS menu. Fortunately, Microsoft has gone to the trouble of designing a whole new Boot Options menu so you don’t have to punch F8 like a crazy person.
You see, an SSD-equipped PC will only take 7 second to boot Windows 8, start to finish. Microsoft’s solution to the limited time available to access the BIOS menu is… to junk the option altogether. In other words, you’ll lose the ability to alter boot and BIOS settings before the OS has loaded entirely. Wahhh!
But don’t worry, there’s good news. Instead of the old-skool BIOS screen, once you’re into Windows 8 there will be a whole new Advanced Startup section, from which you’ll be able to boot from different devices, into a different operating system, or otherwise generally fiddle with all the same old settings you’re used to using.
And if you’re worrying about what will happen on that day—and God knows, it will come—that Windows won’t boot properly, don’t. The same menu will load as a stand-alone unit if Windows realises that it can’t launch properly.
It should be noted that this will only apply to new computers with UEFI BIOS—so any pre-Windows 8 hardware will work in the exact same way as you’re currently using it. And yes, that means you have 200 millisecond to hit F8 if you’re SSD-equipped. Good luck! [Building Windows 8 via PC Pro via The Verge]
This Coffee Menu Is For Connoisseurs Only
Occupy Flash Says Flash Can't Die Fast Enough
Would You Pay Less for Backup Storage You Can't Immediately Access?
Reading the source article it looks like it will be fast with the non-UEFI Bios but not 200ms fast..
“A quick note about older, non-UEFI devices: legacy hardware that was made before Windows 8 will not have these new UEFI-provided menu features (booting to firmware settings and booting directly to a device). The firmware on these devices will continue to support this functionality from the POST screen as it did in the past (using messages such as “Press F2 for Setup”). There is still time for keystrokes like this to work in POST on these legacy devices, since they won’t have the improvements that enable a Windows 8 PC to POST in less than 2 seconds.”
Couldn’t you just hold down F8 as as you turn the computer on?
Nah, it’ll think it’s a stuck key.
I think I have to first install it to check because if this news is true then it is hard to make changes in BIOS for other necessary task.
Eh? Doesn’t the BIOS do its POST for a couple of seconds *before* then loading the boot sector from the default boot device, at which point the 7 seconds to boot Win8 begins.
Couldn’t you just hit F8/F12/Del during POST, like how it currently is?
That’s what I thought at first – but it does say at the bottom of the article
“It should be noted that this will only apply to new computers with UEFI BIOS”
For your convenience
Huh? Surely this has nothing to do with how fast Windows 8 boots but is simply the way UEFI works? Any operating system that can utilise UEFI will work in the same manner. The day Windows boots to a USABLE interface in under 30 seconds will be the day I retire and go on the game!
Check out the Asus Zenbook. 18 Seconds from cold boot. If i hadn’t seen it myself I wouldn’t have believed it.
You should see Win 7 on an SSD.
Same as locust76. Got Win 7 64 on an SSD – off too photoshop in under 30 seconds
Mobo is a few years old now (sata 3…not 6)
6gb ram
My SSD equipped Win 7 Computer Boots in 12 seconds, plus i can play DVDs and didnt have to pay for Media Center. I also have Aero. Why do I need Win 8 again?
Bit of a non-story really. Like every other electronic bootable-thing, it’ll boot fast, until you install a security update patch or two.
Then you’ll be back to waiting the same amount of time it takes to tootle off, make a cappah tea and come back, before you can start working.