Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not counting BIOS time it is about 5 seconds to Windows login on my Windows with NVMe systems. It does take about 20 seconds after login for it to finish loading all of the tiny startup notification icons, but that's actually intentional by Windows so it does not overload and prevent you from launching the apps you want. After login I can click on the web browser or email and it will launch instantly for me. If you a…
The point is, why does OP need to spend money on an SSD (and create e-waste in the process) when an HDD used to be reasonably fast for the same task?
Then you go use an HDD, and suddenly everything feels slow. The thing is, it's not actually slower than it was before, it's just slower than your most recent comparison point.
If only use an HDD, though, those boot time are just the way it is. I never actually found it to be a large difference between Windows and Linux. The difference that really bit me was startup apps on Windows, but fresh installs were plenty quick.
I think in a lot of ways it's like getting off a freeway after a while. On a regular in-city drive, the road speeds feel normal and reasonably quick (assuming no traffic). When you've just gotten off the freeway, though, you're at half the speed of what you've been driving at for the last hour or two, and it feels very slow.