Firefox needs longer to startup than IE. IE is part of Windows and large parts are already loaded if Windows is started. Firefox uses XUL and JavaScript code that needs to be loaded and compile on startup and that takes longer. That is what makes Firefox configurable by extensions makers and proficient users. How long does it take for Firefox to start? A few seconds (less that 20) is quite normal for the first start, especially if you have a lot of bookmarks or history or extensions. A subsequent start should be much faster with all the files in the disk cache. There is also security software that can monitor disk access of Firefox to strictly and cause extra delays in starting.