In computers, instant on is the ability to boot nearly instantly, so one can get online or use a specific application without waiting for a PC's traditional operating system to launch. Instant-on technology is today mostly used on laptops, netbooks, and nettops because the user can boot up one program, instead of waiting for the PC's entire operating system to boot. For instance, a user may want to just launch a movie playing software or launch an Internet browser, without needing the whole operating system. There are and were true instant-on machines such as the Atari ST and early Apple Inc. Macintosh as described in the Booting article. These machines had complete Operating Systems resident in ROM similar to the way in which the BIOS function is conventionally provided on current computer architectures. The "instant-on" concept as used here results from loading an OS, such as a legacy system DOS, with a small hard drive footprint. Latency inherent from mechanical drive performance can also be eliminated by using Live USB or Live SD flash memory to load systems at electronic speeds which are orders of magnitude faster.
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Famous quotes containing the word instant:
“You held my hand
and were instant to explain
the three rings of danger.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)