I long for an OS that can boot up instantly, like switching on a TV or turning on a light.
Some reasearch has been done on stateless OSes (like
Coyotos), but nothing is really working in practice, and software for these OSes has to be programmed very differently and carefully, which is probably too much to ask of programmers these days.
Most OSes, even the "quick" ones like BeOS, have long startup times because of all the initialization and verification they have to perform. You don't want a system to go into an infinite loop if something changes or doesn't start up correctly, and you don't want to start writing data all over the place if a storage volume is unclean or insecure.
Hardware also plays a big part. Some devices don't respond instantly, cannot be initialized at the same time as others, have to follow certain standards and procedures, etc. The only way to get an instant-on OS is by redesigning a new architecture from scratch that is not standards-compliant. That means no hardware choices, high prices, spotty compatibility, and long waits between upgrades. Custom, embedded hardware doesn't always perform better than PCs, either. They have their own problems.
I think you'll have to live with sleep mode, or startup times.
My XP machine boots in 15-20 seconds from POST. I feel sorry for people who use prebuilt systems, like HP. Long boot times are usually caused by bad hardware implementation, mismatched hardware, or startup bloatware. I can't honestly say that OSes are the problem, because my system is VERY fast and responsive compared to other machines I've used and/or fixed.
Blame ACPI, not the OS. It's a horrible, bloated specification.
It's usually non-compliant drivers that cause the problem. My dad's machine has trouble, but mine works perfectly.
Also, I used to work on PowerMacs that would NEVER wake up from sleep mode, so it's not just an x86-PC problem.
