If you've installed Ubuntu 10.04 you may have noticed that it boots amazingly fast, but on some installations the time after you login until the desktop is visible may take 5 to 10 seconds.

I found that there were several startup applications by default that I had no need for. Disabling those applications will cause your desktop to be available nearly instantly, meaning with the new improved boot times, I can actually turn on my computer and be sitting at a working desktop in about 7 seconds (not counting BIOS post time of 23 seconds.)

And that's not a resume - that's a fresh boot.

How do you do that last bit of speedup? After logging into Ubuntu, go to System - Preferences - Startup Applications.

Here's a list of what I disabled, your mileage may vary:

Bluetooth Manager (I don't have a bluetooth device in this PC)
Evolution Alarm Notifier (I run Thunderbird)
Personal File Sharing
Remote Desktop Server
Ubuntu One
Visual Assistance

In addition to doing that, I added in a few other programs such as Rhythmbox to start when I log in. Even with those extra apps added, it shaved several seconds off my login time.