This complaint is the reason why some apps include "quick" loaders under Windows. Effectively they have a tray icon, run after startup and load the files makin

This complaint is the reason why some apps include "quick" loaders under Windows. Effectively they have a tray icon, run after startup and load the files making up an app so they are already in memory when you run the app. Then when you launch the app for real it appears very quickly including all the functionality. Of course people get annoyed at these things, taking up "memory", "delaying" system start etc and get rid of them. I/O just tends to be more expensive on Windows. Not only does the code have to deal with backwards compatibility, old drivers and tag alongs (anti-virus, backup), potentially obstinate hardware, and numerous other things but often the OS is supported for a long time. For example Windows XP uses a 10MB buffer cache, irrespective of how much RAM you really have. (Can be changed via registry, code changed in Vista.)