Bits First Look: Windows 7 Beta Performance

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/softwar...-performance/1

With Microsoft opening the beta of its next generation Windows 7 OS to the public, we put it up against the current standard of Vista x64 with Service Pack 1 to see what's new and how it compares in an early look at performance.

[naokaji]

Support for Virtual Workspaces with Workspaces Centre - another option borrowed from some Linux distros that will create more desktop space.

and

Better start button search the splits the results between programs, the control panel (if applicable), documents and files.

= me wants.

Shame about the mixed performance, but it's a beta, so there is still hope.

[Matticus]

Looks a bit like KDE to me.

I am unsure about trying the beta, because I might get too used to it and when it is gone I might cry

I have been using my PC for gaming less and less so I am not sure if the slightly slower gaming at these very early stages even matters to me. And if it will even be a problem, with better drivers and a finalised OS I imagine it will at least be on par with vista, maybe even better judging by how close it is at the minute.

[UncertainGod]

Every windows pc in my house is now running this OS including my EEE, there are very definate performance increases but they are mainly only noticable at the low end.

At the end of the day I hated Vista and this beta changes almost everything I hated about it so I am one happy chappy.

[Leitchy]

Would it of been hard for them to have an native solution for Multi-Monitor task bars? Although Ultramon does the job most of the time, it's still classed as a beta and a little buggy since the VIsta versions came out.

Overall though I'm enjoying Windows 7!

[Goty]

I personally don't like 7 at all and think I'll be sticking with Vista until I can get a free copy of 7 through school. My biggest complaint so far, Win+E no longer takes you to the root directory. Why couldn't they have cannibalized a shortcut I never used rather than the one I use four or five times a day to great effect?

[azrael-]

Looks promising. I guess it's as DRM-infested as Vista, though, which is one of my main gripes with Vista...

[Andy Mc]

I will proberbly jinx this, but under Win7Beta L4D runs faultlessly, it hasn't crashed once. Vista however is another story, It constantly dies with that OS.

[phuzz]

It would have been interesting to see comparisons to XP on the same hardware as well (but I realise what a pain in the arse that would be for you guys).
Personally, I've had a little play with 7 and, yeah, it's basically Vista. In fact, your comparison to the upgrade between versions of OSX is about right, there's been changes, but it's closer to a really big service pack rather than the usual big jumps we see from M$.

The main thing I noticed was the lack of the old school "Classic" theme, I like my OS to look like Win2000 damnit! I'm sure I'll get used to it after a while though.
Also, love the fact that changing desktop resolution is only one click away again.

Didn't get a chance to play with multiple monitors (like I'm daft enough to test on my main rig), but as Leitchy says, why don't they do the old school M$ tactic and go out and buy up UltraMon and just integrate it with Windows, seriously, that would be be perfect for everyone.

[Sark.inc]

this is just plain stupid.

[Icy EyeG]

Originally Posted by phuzz

It would have been interesting to see comparisons to XP on the same hardware as well (but I realize what a pain in the arse that would be for you guys).

I'd like to see that too... Since many people is considering a transition between XP and 7 (skipping Vista).

Regarding Windows 7: How possible is it to config the taskbar to be Vista-like? I don't like to see such thick taskbar with text-less icons only...

[Kúsař]

Why is MS still developing 32 bit OS? Everyone has 64bit capable PC and those who don't won't be able to run it anyway. They are adding more work to themselves, HW manufacturers(now they'll have to write 6 drivers for - XP, Vista, 7; 32/64) as well as other software developers. Moreover some programs runs significantly faster in 64bit mode.

[Arkanrais]

shame about it getting rid of quick launch icons. I have ~12 that I use a lot, and auto bunching the task bar folders/icons will get to be a pain in the ass for me, sometimes having up to 7 folders open while transferring between my main HDD other HDD's, and external devices, and having 3 VLC windows (playlist, media player & hardware YUV overlay DirectX output) will infuriate me trying to cycle through the task bar pop-up lists.
aside from those 2 things, it does look like a winner and is tempting me to upgrade when it gets its retail release.

edit: is it possible with vista/7 to customize window colours so instead of the blue/white look, you could get red/black?

[perplekks45]

Originally Posted by Sark.inc

this is just plain stupid.

Wow... you have a point there. If only I knew what you're talking about? What exactly is 'plain stupid'?

Anyways, having finally found the time to install Win7 on my main machine I ran into some driver issues with my graphics card (though it's going to die soon anyways I suppose, so the problems might be related to that) other than that everything is fine. Way faster than Vista for me and pretty stable.

One thing I noticed though is AV software. According to MS there are 3 supported ones and I decided to go with Kaspersky for now. During install I saw this:



So what exactly does the Russian Federation own now?

[Phil Rhodes]

All I need to know is how much RAM does it use, how fast does it boot, and what crap does it run by default.

This is a new version of Windows, so the fact that these figures will all be worse than previous versions is almost inevitable, but I can't help but agree with Mr. Swinburne's opinion:

We still think Microsoft needs to stop heading down the "one size fits all" road when it's making the next Windows operating system.

I work largely as a video editor at the moment and so I have one machine that's very tweaked up for that one task. You could say that isn't a general usage scenario, but then, my second machine is effectively a set top box, so I have it tweaked up for that. My third is the low power web server/email machine, so that's also set up quite specifically. Microsoft need to realise that specificity isn't actually unusual.

I'd like to see a "Pro" version of windows that does actually show some signs of being aimed at professionals - mainly by not having every damn thing in the world run at startup.

[liratheal]

Agreed, pretty much.

One game you should have mentioned, though, is that RA2 works!

Originally Posted by aon`aTv.gsus666

So what exactly does the Russian Federation own now?

They own the UK too, didn't you know?

[ChaosDefinesOrder]

Originally Posted by azrael-

Looks promising. I guess it's as DRM-infested as Vista, though, which is one of my main gripes with Vista...

could someone explain to me specific examples of how Vista is infected with DRM? Not seen a single thing that could suggest this...

Originally Posted by Kúsař

Why is MS still developing 32 bit OS? Everyone has 64bit capable PC and those who don't won't be able to run it anyway. They are adding more work to themselves, HW manufacturers(now they'll have to write 6 drivers for - XP, Vista, 7; 32/64) as well as other software developers. Moreover some programs runs significantly faster in 64bit mode.

Because some people still have 32-bit PCs lying around that they want to give a speed boost to.

[perplekks45]

One more thing:

I haven't tried it yet but apparently the 'problem' you mention with just one icon in the start bar for X open windows of an application can be 'fixed':

Go to the task bar preferences, there is a simple drop down for that with 3 settings:

• Always combine, hide labels
• Combine when taskbar is full
• Never combine

[legoman666]

How about adding WinXP into the benchmark mix? Most of us are still using it and comparing Windows 7 to something we've never used (Vista) is kind of a useless comparison...

[DougEdey]

I can't find the "Workspaces Center" anywhere on my install...