I'm a total linux user and have tried *Bsd from time to time. For some reason, the bsds have always taken a very long time to boot up and even to start X. The last time I tried FreeBsd (about 3-4 years ago), a friend asked me to help him debug why X windows didn't run. It was taking 15+ minutes to startx on his brand new server class PC that he built up himself. We didn't realize that it took so long to start up until we went out for dinner and came back, surprised to see X had started. Same with OpenBsd, it took 10+ minutes just to boot up. I thought I didn't install it correctly and re-installed it a couple of times. I'm guessing, the Bsds are meant to be run continuously and not shut down? I've asked a couple of other Bsd people, and they couldn't provide an answer, so I'm left up in the air about that.