Grammar – Difference Between ‘How Much Is It’ and ‘How Much Does That Cost’

"To inaugurate" is fairly archaic in American English. We say people get inaugurated in political office, or to inaugurate a new policy. I couldn't tell you exactly what the difference is, but I can't remember the last time I heard someone use the word for anything but a new president.

To say something "launched" implies movement, and a certain element of risk. Its usage is metaphoric, as literally speaking only vessels launch. When you "launch" a new software, you are taking it from its safe harbor (the development team) and putting it out into the dangerous seas (the general public). It used to imply adventure and risk, but is now sufficiently commonplace that people don't normally think of it that way. "Released" is a more neutral word for the same thing.

They are mostly used in the same way. A slight difference is that there is a little more emphasis involved with 'that'. Then for most cases, "it" is used to address a single object,

We watched the stars at night. It was fun. (watching the stars at night was fun)

whereas, "that" can be used to address multiple things (not necessarily), or a group of things.

We went to the observatory and watched the stars. That was wonderful. (The trip to the observatory and watching the stars were both wonderful)

There are sentences where you cannot use "that", for example,

It was great running into you today.

Coming to your sentence,

• 'How long does it take?'
• 'How long does that take?'

You could ask someone :

'How long would it take for you to drive all the way here?'
or
'You'll have to drive all the way here. How long would that take?'.

Typically 'that' requires a point of reference. An event or an object, and that's mainly the reason why it is added to the second part of a sentence.