Microsoft Office apps to get speed boost with this feature
What's the story
Microsoft is finally looking to make its Office apps start faster, starting with Word in May.
The tech giant plans to introduce a new feature, called 'Startup Boost,' which will run silently at the time of PC boot-up. It would ensure that Word and other Office apps open faster.
Microsoft said, "We are introducing a new Startup Boost task from the Microsoft Office installer to optimize performance and load-time of experiences within Office applications."
Working
How will Startup Boost function?
The 'Startup Boost' feature will work by keeping the app in a paused state after the system has done its job.
The sequence will either resume when the app is launched or be stopped if the system needs to reclaim resources by removing it from memory.
Microsoft has confirmed "support for additional applications will come in future updates."
However, this feature will only be available on PCs with a minimum of 8GB RAM and 5GB free disk space.
User control
Disabling Startup Boost and its implications
If you don't want Office apps to start silently in the background at boot time, you can disable the feature from within Word itself.
Alternatively, you can delete the scheduled task, but Microsoft warns that the Office installer will recreate it during an update.
The company uses several scheduled tasks for silent operations on Windows, a practice not commonly adopted by most app developers.
Optional use
It's an optional feature
Microsoft has clarified that 'Startup Boost' is an optional performance feature.
"It is safe to disable. When disabled, Microsoft Office applications will be fully functional but may take longer to load," the company said.
The tech giant encourages users who don't need/want this feature to disable it in Word by navigating through File menu > Options > General > Startup options.
A new setting named 'Startup Boost' will appear in May for users to uncheck its checkbox.