Users of computing devices expect timely operation of those computing devices and completion of tasks performed by the computing devices. Users are often frustrated when a task takes longer than they expect. Such frustration may lead to the user developing a negative impression of a manufacturer of hardware of the computing device and/or a developer of software installed on the computing device.
Reducing or eliminating such negative impressions is clearly desirable for these manufacturers and developers. For many tasks, however, the timeliness of execution of the task by the computing device depends on the overall configuration of the computing device and depends less on individual pieces of hardware and software installed on the computing device. A task may execute very quickly on one type of computing device that has a first configuration, but may execute very slowly on the same type of computing device with a different configuration. Thus, manufacturers and developers have a limited ability to improve their individual products to improve performance of a computing device. Instead, changing a configuration of a computing device would increase the speed with which tasks are carried out.