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When installing Paint.net (the Windows app), it actually create a restore point. This is a bit strange as when installing other apps, this isn't seen. Does anybody know why that is?

Another thing is that it actually "optimize performance"... and takes 20 to 30 seconds to do that. I thought only real time game or real time application do that. The non-real-time app don't usually check for performance. For example, installing Irfan View or other graphical app usually won't do that. Does anybody know why?

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2 Answers

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For the primary, it's always a good idea to create a restore point before isntalling anything, Paint.net just decided it would make sure it did for you.

As for the latter, this is apparently to do with the .net framework that paint.net is built around.

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"Optimize performance" has something to do with .Net applications but I'm not sure exactly what it's doing. That's why some other apps don't do it: they're not developed on .Net. – Snark Oct 29 '09 at 22:30
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Paint.NET is built with the .NET framework, and I think it performs an 'ngen' operation on it as part of the install process, or maybe on first use, I'm not sure.

ngen compiles the code to native code from the MSIL code that .Net apps use. This will eliminate any runtime JIT operations during the app execution, and as such can improve performance.

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I confirm it's running ngen during installation. I checked with Process Hacker during the installation of the last version 3.5 Paint.NET. – Snark Nov 10 '09 at 21:39

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