A few other bloggers have mentioned the install time being much faster, but I wanted to get a good measurement last night. In a fully patched XP SP3 VM with the prerequisites already installed (which does not include the .NET SDK), I started timing after finishing all the configuration.
Results: Just shy of 10 minutes. I glanced away for a second right before it finished, so I don’t know the timing for sure. I recorded a video though so I could verify it. I’ll see about posting it later.
Keep in mind this is a beta, and subject to change, although I can hardly imagine the install getting slower in the release. If anything it might get faster. Well, unless the bundle more goodness with it.
The exclusion of the .NET SDK is great though. Of course you can install it if you want it I guess.