Posts Tagged ‘Windows Operating System’
Microsoft Windows 7 Innovations Make It Easier and Quicker
It’s the simple things in life that are often the best. Perhaps with this in mind, Microsoft’s developers have crafted the Microsoft® Windows® 7 operating system (OS).
Microsoft Windows 7 will be available in HP notebooks and desktop PCs from 22 October 2009. Including a whole heap of special little refinements, and a few big ones, it can help simplify the operation of your hard-working companion.
Make new things possible
Windows 7 innovations make it easier and quicker to share music, documents, printers, and more, on your home or office networks. The system supports latest advances in PC hardware, like 64-bit computing and multi-core processors, while improved memory capability will lift the overall performance of your computer.
An improved toolbar gives you a better view of the files and applications you have open. And you can even turn your computer into a touchscreen device, thanks to Windows Touch. With the right hardware you can use your fingers to find folders and files, touch-edit pictures, and even “paint” items on screen.
Clever collaboration
HP collaborated closely with Microsoft during the creation of the new OS to ensure that it performs optimally with HP models. Now, to make it easy for you to access the advantages of Windows 7, HP has joined the Windows Upgrade Option Programme, providing selected users with a free upgrade to the new OS.
Microsoft Windows7 to Hit Market End October 2009
Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on Oct. 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season. The new operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vista, was originally planned for roll-out at the beginning of next year, but Microsoft confirmed last month that it would hit the market in time for the year’s busiest shopping period. The world’s largest software company said it will send Windows 7 code to PC makers to load onto new machines – known in the industry as “‘release to manufacturing”‘ – around the end of July.
By Oct. 22 2009, people will be able to buy new computers with Windows 7 installed, or pick up the software off the shelf to install on their old computers. Microsoft confirmed that it will run a program whereby people who buy a PC before Oct. 22 can upgrade to Windows 7, but it has not yet released details.
Quick Look: Notebook Performance With Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
We’ve already looked into the performance differences between Windows Vista and Windows 7 in a desktop computing environment. Although many people would recommend using Windows 7 not only for new PCs, but also notebooks as well, it might not make sense to change the operating system on existing systems.
The notebook question was particularly interesting for us. Which of the latest Windows versions provides the best performance on notebooks? And does the Windows version have a noticeable impact on battery life? Both questions can be answered with a “yes.”
There should be little performance difference between similar operating system versions. Windows XP is popular because it is rather sleek and fast. Windows Vista has the opposite reputation, although it introduced several new features that potentially increase performance. For example, SuperFetch loads the most-wanted applications in the background, utilizing all available system RAM, to make them available quickly. ReadyBoost utilizes a fast USB 2.0 thumb drive to provide additional random access memory for applications. ReadyDrive introduced support for HHDDs (Hybrid Hard Drives), although this feature was never used.
And finally, there is Windows 7, which generally provides better performance.
WINDOWS XP
We used a Dell Latitude D630 notebook and three identical 2.5” Seagate Momentus 7200.2 hard drives to install all three Windows versions: Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Thus armed, it was time to run a little analysis.
We’ve already looked into the performance differences between Windows Vista and Windows 7 in a desktop computing environment. Although many people would recommend using Windows 7 not only for new PCs, but also notebooks as well, it might not make sense to change the operating system on existing systems.
The notebook question was particularly interesting for us. Which of the latest Windows versions provides the best performance on notebooks? And does the Windows version have a noticeable impact on battery life? Both questions can be answered with a “yes.”
There should be little performance difference between similar operating system versions. Windows XP is popular because it is rather sleek and fast. Windows Vista has the opposite reputation, although it introduced several new features that potentially increase performance. For example, SuperFetch loads the most-wanted applications in the background, utilizing all available system RAM, to make them available quickly. ReadyBoost utilizes a fast USB 2.0 thumb drive to provide additional random access memory for applications. ReadyDrive introduced support for HHDDs (Hybrid Hard Drives), although this feature was never used.
And finally, there is Windows 7, which generally provides better performance.
We used a Dell Latitude D630 notebook and three identical 2.5” Seagate Momentus 7200.2 hard drives to install all three Windows versions: Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Thus armed, it was time to run a little analysis.
WINDOWS VISTA
We performed an in-depth comparison of Windows XP and Windows Vista in 2007. This revealed that there were no significant performance differences, but still some minor disadvantages associated with Windows Vista.
Our current Vista installation also includes all updates available as of November 10, along with the drivers listed on the test setup page. We left all Vista default settings unchanged. You’ll find the settings to the “balanced” power scheme.
WINDOWS 7
We were surprised to see such diverse results. Keep in mind that the test notebook was the same in all three runs and that we used very comparable power schemes (balanced/portable). Windows XP with Service Pack 3 clearly provides the highest application performance, and Windows 7 doesn’t seem so superior anymore. We can only assume that Windows 7 tries to be conservative on performance in an effort to maximize battery life. Let’s look at the MobileMark 2007 runtime results now. Our assumption seems to be true. Windows 7 does indeed provide the highest runtime of the three operating systems, while the fastest setup, based on Windows XP with SP3, actually provided the least endurance on battery. The difference isn’t really significant, but on a notebook like the one we used (with powerful 9-cell battery) the runtime variance between Windows XP and Windows 7 was as much as 28 minutes. This is quite a lot if you imagine trying to finalize a presentation on a transatlantic flight.