Ubuntu Karmic Koala (9.10) on my Dell mini v10 netbook
Got some time to test the new Ubuntu on my dell mini. It took 80 minutes (4800 secs) to install it. It was a breeze.
Before doing so, I got some boot time data:
41 seconds from zero to usable system. 7 seconds of that was the bios going to the bootloader.
After the update:
37 seconds. Improvement by 10 %. Reducing the bios-time it is an improvement by 12 %
I will have to boot the new Netbook 960 times to get the time back I spent for the update.
So it is quite a bad deal 
Seriously: The first thing I saw was an imroved main menu. Not wasting 1/4th of the screen like the one before. And that alone was worth the update.
Adding Palimsest (drive management) to the default tools also fills a hole. I do not have to explain my windows-using friends how to format the drive using the terminal (“Oh, it is easy, like everything else if you are using linux. Just start the terminal, enter sudo /sbin/mkfs.* and twentysomething parameters and here you go – or destroy your system)
I will be looking for other interesting stuff. And keep you posted
Update: My DVD Player at home needs 14 seconds to boot up. From Bios to usable system my netbook needs 30 seconds, about twice as much – but a running linux system is much better than a simple DVD player.
