Microsoft revealed that it is targeting a 15 seconds boot time for Windows 7 in laboratory conditions, but the fact is that the Redmond company is cooking even something better. While Michael Fortin, Microsoft distinguished engineer and lead of the Fundamentals feature team in the Core Operating System group, indicated that Windows starting up in 15 seconds in the lab is a satisfactory boot time, the software giant is exploring the possibility of the 8-seconds-boot for Windows via a concept dubbed “Instant On”.

“Instant On” is nothing more than a concept at this point in time in a user feedback survey (courtesy of Engadget), with Microsoft offering little additional details. “The concept is called 'Instant On'”, Microsoft reveals via the feedback request. “Instant On takes your computer from being completely powered down or 'turned off' to being usable for a few specific activities in a very short amount of time. The Instant On experience is different from 'Full Windows' because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you have access to.”

In this regard, Microsoft is looking to do nothing more than a stripped down installation of Windows. The Redmond company is already working on componentizing the operating system, and the MinWin project is the basic, bare-bone, standalone core of the operating system that is still capable of booting and running by itself. The Windows “Instant On” slimmed down variant of the operating system would in fact permit access to only a subset of features and components including email, media player, instant messaging, the browser, limiting the user experience to only a handful of scenarios for the sake of boot performance.

“In the 'Instant On' scenario, your computer would be usable in eight (8) seconds,” Microsoft promises. “You have the ability to browse the web, do instant mesaging, watch DVDs and listen to music, but you would not have full access to Windows or all of your applications. This means that you would not have access to your files or data and could not change the configuration of the computer. You would be limited to using only the applications presented in the Instant ON scenario: web browsing, media playback and instant messaging.”