XSplash is a software project in the Ubuntu

Ubuntu (operating system)

Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...

 community that uses the X Window System

X Window System

The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...

 to replace the scrolling-text screens that appear while booting a Linux-based computer with a graphical splash screen

Splash screen

A splash screen is an image that appears while a game or program is loading. It may also be used to describe an introduction page on a website. Splash screens sometimes do not cover the entire screen, but only a rectangle near the center...

.

XSplash replaced usplash

Usplash

Usplash is a software project in the Ubuntu community. Historically, scrolling text "verbose mode" has typically appeared on Linux computers during boot. Usplash replaces the scrolling-text screens with a graphical splash screen. It was designed to replace Bootsplash, which did the same thing on...

 (which uses the Linux framebuffer

Linux framebuffer

The Linux framebuffer is a graphic hardware-independent abstraction layer to show graphics on a computer monitor, typically on the console...

) in Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala), bringing Ubuntu closer to its goal of a 10-second boot time by version 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). The improved boot performance over usplash and other boot systems is achieved by prioritizing startup processes related to the X server, and by using a single X server throughout the boot process.