“I am not a “power user”. I only need a basic OS. It irrates the hell out of me that it can take several minutes from the time I turn on my computer before it is ready for me to start using it (and do get me started on the several minute shut down which requires me to stand around and wait since every so often a file will not close and I have to close it manually.)”
Take a look at some of the linux distributions. They are free and some are testable from a cd without disturbing your MS operating system. In the end you will save time and hair.
You turn your computer off?