Windows XP SP3 Yields Performance Gains Over Vista SP1
After a disappointing showing by Windows Vista SP1 (see previous post), we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (v.3244) delivers a measurable performance boost to this aging desktop OS.
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24.11.2007 Windows 7 Search Performance – Superior to Vista SP1 and XP SP3
Get ready for the Windows 7 indexer on steroids, as Microsoft will deliver the first taste of the operating system to the world at the end of this month.
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14.10.2008 Windows 7 build 7057 - Performance that blasts past XP, Vista
Over the weekend I’ve been spending time with the latest leaked build of Windows 7 - build 7057. While this isn’t the release candidate (RC) build that some people claim it is, this build is certainly pretty close to being RC.
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16.3.2009 Vista to XP Copying Performance Slower with Intel I/OAT Enabled
One of the issues that plagued Windows Vista when the operating system was launched in January 2009 was the slow copying speeds delivered.
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5.7.2009 Forget 32-bit XP SP3, It's All About 64-bit Vista SP1
Back in 2007, because of the ubiquity of 32-bit architectures, and the market's slow migration pace toward 64-bit computing, Microsoft announced that the next version of the Windows client, Windows 7, would be delivered in both x86 and x64 flavors.
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15.8.2008 Windows XP 64 Final
See why you should consider upgrading to Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.
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64-Bit XP: A Failed Tech Trend?
ExtremeTech has published a list of
the Top 10 Failed Tech Trends for 2005. Number 4:
The failure of Windows XP 64-bit edition to really take off. "When Windows XP Professional x64 actually arrived, it was all pretty much underwhelming. This is actually not Microsoft's fault. While the kids in Redmond did hype Windows 64-bit enhancements, they also cautioned that x64 would be a tool mostly for developers and certain vertical applications," the Extreme editors admit.
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1.1.2006 64-bit Vista SP1 Runs Faster than 32-bit Vista SP1 and 32-bit XP SP3!
The 64-bit edition of Windows Vista delivers not only support for larger quantities of system memory, with the high-end editions supporting as much as 128 GB of RAM, but also some extra horse power hidden under the hood.
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29.4.2008 Windows 7 Performance Tools - Performance Tools Kit 4.1.1
Internet Explorer 8 will be not only an apex of performance, but also the next major iteration of the Windows client, according to Microsoft.
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1.9.2008 Is 64-bit Vista ready for take off?
There have been 64-bit versions of Windows since Windows 2000, but Microsoft thinks 64-bit Vista may finally be starting to take off....
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4.8.2008 Vista users get the 64-bit blues
Microsoft is keen to stir up enthusiasm for Windows Vista, but when it comes to the 64-bit edition of the recently released operating system, the software giant is sending decidedly mixed messages.
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20.2.2007 6 Caveats – 64-bit Windows Vista
There is little doubt that 64-bit architectures are the future, as far as the parallel evolution of processors and operating systems goes.
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12.1.2008 Windows Vista 64-bit Today
There appears to be a shift taking place in the PC industry: the move from 32-bit to 64-bit PCs. We've been tracking the change by looking at the percentage of 64-bit PCs connecting to Windows Update, and have seen a dramatic increase in recent months.
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31.7.2008 Vista SP1 a Performance Dud
With the initial performance characteristics of Windows Vista leaving much to be desired (see our previous post on the subject), many IT organizations have put off deploying the new OS until the first service pack (SP1) is released by Microsoft early next year.
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20.11.2007 Another Vista Reliability & Performance Update
Vista’s performance is one of those topics that won’t be exhausted until Windows Seven hits RTM. It all comes down to trade-offs.
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12.12.2007 Windows Vista Performance and Tuning
Windows Vista and SP1 focus on delivering greater performance and overall system responsiveness. By striking a balance between speed and responsiveness, Windows Vista and SP1 deliver a level of performance that has the greatest positive impact on the system’s usability.
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31.7.2008 Vista Performance Post SP1
Poor performance was one of the sins associated with Windows Vista RTM, especially in comparison to Windows XP throughout 2007.
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9.10.2008 Best 64-bit Windows Vista Anti-Virus
Windows Vista comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. Unlike Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, which is the last server operating system from the Redmond company, the 32-bit client platform will live long after Windows Vista.
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2.8.2007 PC Manufacturers Embrace 64-Bit Vista
We knew it would come sooner or later, and from the looks of it widespread 64-bit computing might be on the horizon.
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7.5.2008 Windows Vista Imaging and Installation Performance
Ideally, installation of an operating system is two fairly simple steps. First, copy all the OS files to the hard disk.
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4.10.2006 Vista Compatibility, Performance and Reliability Pack
Windows Vista Compatibility, Performance and Reliability Packs – SP1 Preview - Microsoft offers fresh Vista updates to testers.
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31.7.2007 New Performance and Reliability Updates for Vista SP1
A reliability and performance update is available for download for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This specific release targets all Windows Vista editions, provided that they have the first service pack integrated.
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25.6.2008 x64 Vista SP2 JPG Rendering Performance Inferior to x86 Vista SP2's
The JPG rendering process on 64-bit flavors of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is inferior to that on the 32-bit variants of the operating system.
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10.6.2009 Nvidia ForceWare for Windows Vista 100.64 (BETA)
Nvidia has released yet another beta set of video drivers for Windows Vista. As usual, only English flavours (both 32bit and 64bit) are available.
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16.2.2007 Final Names for Windows Vista Performance Features
Windows PC Accelerators is the new term that encompasses Windows Vista's new performance-enhancing technologies.
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7.4.2006 Performance Results Mixed with Vista Service Pack 1
Files copied faster in our initial tests, but other performance was slightly slower with the SP1 installed.
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7.2.2008 Vista SP1 Evolves with New Reliability and Performance Boost
Microsoft is indeed starting to deliver an increasing volume of details related to the upcoming Windows 7 client and Windows 7 Server releases, but the end of 2009/ the debut of 2010 is still not even on the horizon, and neither are the next iterations of the Windows platforms.
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19.8.2008 16 Windows Vista MUI Packs for 64 bit Versions
Thanks to Ragnor which report this downloads in our forum. Here are Vista 64-bit version of the 16 multi-lingual user interface kits (MUI).
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12.3.2007 64-bit Vista SP1 RTM Available for Download Straight from Microsoft
In another move coming out of nowhere, unconfirmed and unannounced through official channels, Microsoft has now apparently started serving the 64-bit variant of Vista SP1 RTM to end users.
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21.2.2008 Early Vista SP1 64-bit installs causing new problems?
An iTWire journo by the name of Alex has found yet another Vista SP1 issue to bitch about, this time it's the x64 version and early reports are pointing to several problems.
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25.2.2008Informal Windows Vista SP1 vs XP SP2 Performance Tests
Mikael at the Futuremark Forums ran a few benchmarks of Windows Vista SP1 (presumably the latest RC Refresh) vs. XP SP2 with some surprising results.
It seems that having 8GB RAM with SuperFetch enabled doesn't hurt...
I just reinstalled Vista Home Premium 64-bit and thought
I'd run some tests. These are just a bunch of quick benches I did to satisfy my own curiosity, but I thought I'd share them with you guys. The test
config is as follows:
Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2GHz (8*400)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
8GB DDR2-800 4-5-4-15
GeForce 8800GT 512MB (stock)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB <--- Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Samsung SpinPoint T166 320GB
<--- Windows XP Professional SP2
Some excerpts from the conclusion:
- The general usage tests are either
faster or equal to XP. However, Vista is on the slower drive (the WD), so it only makes the results even more impressive.
- Crysis was almost
certainly not cached into RAM during the test, but still loaded faster than in XP.
- The horrendous file copy performance has been fixed.
Performance is definitely higher than in XP. Also gone is the sometimes irritatingly long file delete times. File deletion seems instantaneous now,
just like it's always been in XP.
- Crysis: Performance is down 5-8% when looking at DX9 32/64-bit benches and DX10 is even worse off. The CPU
test is also curious with a WinXP performance lead of 15%! This was definitely unexpected and something that would be interesting to research further.
- Loading the image for the Photoshop test was about twice as fast in Vista compared to XP and it was the first time that file was loaded so it
couldn't have been cached.
- Gaming performance is still a let-down and it seems we'll have to live with it.
- SuperFetch has a very
large impact on program load times.
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17.01.2008Catalyst 8.12 display driver
AMD has released the new Catalyst 8.12 display driver for Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows Media Center Edition, Windows Vista 32-bit and
Windows Vista 64-bit. The new Catalyst 8.12 drivers, aside from performance improvements, enable ATI Stream technology. View: ATI website
Download: ATI Catalyst 8.12 Display Driver
Read full
story.....
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11.12.2008Windows XP SP3 Yields Performance Gains Over Vista SP1
After a disappointing showing by Windows Vista SP1 (see previous post), we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Windows XP Service Pack 3
(v.3244) delivers a measurable performance boost to this aging desktop OS. Testing with OfficeBench showed an 10% performance boost vs. the same
configuration running under Windows XP w/Service Pack 2.
Since SP3 was supposed to be mostly a bug-fix/patch consolidation release - unlike
w/Vista SP1, Microsoft made no promises of improved performance for XP - the unexpected speed boost comes as a nice bonus. In fact, XP SP3 is
shaping-up to be a "must have" update for the majority of users who are still running Redmond's not-so-latest and greatest desktop
OS.
Of course, none of this bodes well for Vista, which is now more than 2x slower than the most current builds of its older sibling.
Suffice to say that performance-minded users will likely choose to stick with the now even speedier Windows XP - at least until more "Windows
7" information becomes publicly available.
Read full story.....
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24.11.2007Is 64-bit Vista ready for take off?
For many moons, I've been raising the issue of how people get to 64-bit Windows 7, which is a big compatibility shift from 32-bit Windows XP. The
obvious answer is via Vista, but is that 32-bit Vista and/or 64-bit Vista? The price includes both, so it's up to you.
Initially, Vista
was a bit short of drivers, or else had some bad drivers. That made 32-bit Vista the obvious choice for most people, because 64-bit drivers were even
rarer. The same thing applied to software compatibility, only more so, because while it does run 32-bit programs, 64-bit Vista is much less forgiving
about rubbish programming.
Now it looks as though the dramatic improvements in Vista drivers etc could be feeding through into the 64-bit
version (possibly with a bit of help from the Windows Server market, which is now almost all 64-bit). Anyway, according to Chris Flores on the
Vista team's
blog.
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04.08.2008XP SP3 speed lead over Vista SP1 narrows under similar workloads
A heavily promoted performance test by an evaluation software firm appeared to situate Windows Vista SP1 performance against Windows XP SP3. But the
initial workloads were actually different due to the Office software used...
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28.11.2007XP SP3 outperforms Vista SP1, but less when running same Office version
A heavily promoted performance test by an evaluation software firm appeared to situate Windows Vista SP1 performance against Windows XP SP3. But the
initial workloads were actually different due to the Office software used...
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28.11.2007Gaming Performance: Windows Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3
Even as Microsoft tries to shove Windows Vista down the collective and unwilling throat of computer users worldwide, the company is still perfecting
the well-aged and well-loved Windows XP. The latter of the two operating systems just received its third (and evidently last) service pack.
<...> Of course, with the release of a new service pack comes a huge, pressing question: How does it compare to Windows Vista and its own
recent update, Service Pack 1, in the game performance department? Vista, of course, has been plagued by criticism that games run on it don't perform
as well as they do in Windows XP, even though most of the problems were due to early graphics drivers and have gradually been worked out.
Come with us as we install XP SP3 and take it for a test drive, and more importantly compare it to Vista SP1 with a batch of performance
tests. Though DirectX 10 is Vista-only, many a gamer has sworn not to upgrade; will XP SP3 cement their decision, or has Vista and its drivers matured
enough to change a few minds?
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12.05.2008Updated: Exclusive: Download Internet Explorer 8 Final
The long awaited final version of Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 final has gone live. Before we get into detail about changes, here are the download
links: Windows XP Windows XP 64 Bit Windows Vista Windows Vista 64 Bit Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 64 Bit Windows Server 2008 Windows
Server 2008 64 Bit Upon installation I can say that the final version is a lot more stable than the Release Candidate that was released a few
months ago. No noticeable changes as of yet, as this release focuses on the core features and functionality of Internet Explorer 8. Unfortunately
there is no version for Windows 7 being released today.
Read full story.....
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19.03.2009Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2
Principled Technologies has released two Microsoft commissioned reports on Windows Vista SP1 performance. In these tests, Principled Technologies
measured responsiveness of Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2 when performing a set of common business and home tasks. The
results show that SP1 performs on par with Vista RTM and Windows XP.
The test show that as with Windows Vista RTM, overall performance is
on par with Windows XP. It’s important to remember that Windows Vista is a more advanced operating system, which includes many more capabilities
than Windows XP. By default, Windows Vista includes antispyware, a search indexer, and the shadow copy service. All these work in the background,
providing important services to customers, but they of course take up a portion of the PCs memory and processor resource.
On several common
business and home operations Windows Vista SP1 was noticeably more responsive after rebooting than Windows XP.
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28.02.200850 Windows XP & Vista Tips & Tricks
Computer Active has compiled a list of 50 tips to improve performance of both XP and Vista.
For most people using a computer means using
Windows and over the years Microsoft’s operating system has become easier to use.
However, there is always room for improvement, so
in this feature we have compiled 50 of the finest tips for Windows XP and Vista. These can help to make Windows even better, easier to use and faster.
Most don’t even require you to install any extra software, so if you want to make your copy of XP or Vista better, it’s possible to get
started immediately.
Read full story.....
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09.05.2008Vista or XP? How about both?
Scott Lowe: Now that Windows Vista SP1 is peeking out from around the e-corner, many śpre-SP1 adverseť organizations will probably begin the process
of evaluting Vista in their organizations. However, for the foreseeable future, there will be those that swear by Windows XP and its stability and
performance. So, whos right? Why not both?
As much as it will pain some to admit it, Vista does have some redeeming
qualities. And, for others, Windows XP continues“and will continue“to serve a very useful purpose in the enterprise. So, what are some of the
situations in which it might make sense to run both Windows Vista and Windows XP in the organization? And, what are the challenges involved in doing
so?
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22.02.2008Windows Vista 64-bit Today
Chris Flores: There appears to be a shift taking place in the PC industry: the move from 32-bit to 64-bit PCs.
We've been
tracking the change by looking at the percentage of 64-bit PCs connecting to Windows Update, and have seen a dramatic increase in recent months. The
installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, has more than tripled in the U.S. in the last three months,
while worldwide adoption has more than doubled during the same period. Another view shows that 20% of new Windows Vista PCs in the U.S. connecting to
Windows Update in June were 64-bit PCs, up from just 3% in March. Put more simply, usage of 64-bit Windows Vista is growing much more rapidly than
32-bit. Based on current trends, this growth will accelerate as the retail channel shifts to supplying a rapidly increasing assortment of 64-bit
desktops and laptops.
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31.07.2008Windows 7 beta 1 performance - How does the OS compare to Vista and XP?
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: How does Windows 7 beta 1 compare to Vista and XP in terms of performance? Thats a question thats been hitting my inbox
regularly over the past few weeks. Lets see if we cant answer it!
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02.01.2009AMD Catalyst 7.11 Released
AMD has released an update to their Catalyst software suite, bringing the oft-updated package up to version 7.11.
There are no
noted performance improvements or new features in this
release. In fact, the only thing noteworthy about these is a lower than
usual number of
bug fixes. Whether that's a Good Thing or Bad Thing
depends on your point of view, I suppose.
Catalyst 7.11 installers are
available for
Windows Vista 32-bit,
Windows Vista 64-bit,
Windows XP 32-bit,
Windows XP 64-bit,
Windows Media Center Edition,
Linux 32-bit and
Linux 64-bit.
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22.11.2007Microsoft claims a consumer 'shift' to 64-bit Vista, but where are the drivers?
A big "shift" is now on to 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, even among consumers, according to Microsoft product manager Chris Flores. But he
acknowledges that, even now, few if any 64-drivers are available for some categories of consumer products, including DVD/RW devices...
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31.07.2008AMD Catalyst 7.10 Released
AMD has released version 7.10 of their Catalyst driver package, which offers significant performance gains in D3D10 applications, especially when
using CrossFire configurations. According to
Dave
Baumann, this is the first driver for the HD 2000 series to enable general-purpose AFR, which explains some of the enormous performance increases
there.
Some highlights of the improved D3D10 performance according to the release notes:
- Bioshock
performance is at least 70% higher on all Crossfire configurations.
- World in Conflict renderer is faster by 20% or more on single card HD
2900 or 2600 configurations and 14-67% in Crossfire configurations.
- Call of Juarez is up to 34% faster for single cards and 42% faster
for Crossfire.
- Company of Heroes is 80% faster in Crossfire configurations and up to 31% faster for single cards.
There are
additional performance gains in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which is as much as 23% faster on both the X1000 and HD 2000 series of cards.
Adaptive anti-aliasing is also officially enabled on X1000 cards, and software Crossfire support is now available for the HD 2400 and 2600
cards.
7.10 is available for
32-bit
Vista,
64-bit Vista,
32-bit XP, and
64-bit XP. As a side note, AMD has said that a new version of the
Linux Catalyst package will be released soon.
winbeta.org -
12.10.2007Making the case for Windows Vista
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: Over the past few days my inbox has been bursting at the seams from all the feedback I received from the Vista SP1 vs. XP SP2
(
Part 1 /
Part 2) benchmarking that I carried out. I’ll tell you it’s at times like this that
I’m glad that Gmail offers me over 6GB of space, and effectively sorts out the ham from the spam. One popular question that you seem to have is
why have I decided to embrace Vista despite the flaws, faults and shortcomings. In this post I hope to explain why.
For me, the
roadmap from XP to Vista became clear months before the OS was released. While beta testing Vista I mainly used the 32-bit flavor of the OS, but
there were times when I dabbled with the 64-bit flavor and actually found it to be workable. Sure, driver support was patchy, but you could see more
and more drivers being added to the ecosystem. Also, I noticed that my dependence on third-party drivers under Vista was going to be far less than it
was under XP, and that meant that the transition would be a smoother one. Ultimately, I knew that I’d be switching to 64-bit Vista at some
point.
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20.02.2008Vista vs XP performance: Some informal tests
Tim Anderson: After posting about
the inadequacy of a recent test report I
thought it would be interesting to conduct my own informal tests of Vista vs XP performance. I do not run a computer laboratory, but I guess my tests
have the benefit of being real-world.
I tested several conditions on three computers. On two of them I was able to test XP 32-bit
vs Vista 32-bit. I tried various combinations of Aero on or off, visual effects on or off, and UAC (User Account Control) on or off. I also tried
setting Vista to run only basic services, using Msconfig.
winbeta.org -
05.12.2007Top Ten Vista Tips: Video, Display, and Software Problems Solved!
This holiday week we've got 10 Windows Vista Blasts from the Past for you to savor, enjoy!
Boot manager for Windows Vista and Windows MCE? I
have a system with TWO hard drives installed. One has MCE and the second has Vista. I would like to get a boot manager that will allow me to pick one
at boot without having to access the BIOS or innards of the machine. Any suggestions?
Can I upgrade 32 Bit Windows XP to 64 Bit Windows Vista? The real question is can I buy the 64 bit upgrade version and be able to apply it to my current 32 bit Windows XP? Or do I have to buy the more
expensive new install 64 bit version and do a fresh install, thus losing all my precious Windows stuff?
winbeta.org -
22.11.2007Windows XP SP3 Yields Performance Gains
After a
disappointing showing by Windows Vista
SP1, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (v.3244) delivers a measurable performance boost to this aging desktop
OS. Testing with OfficeBench
showed a
10% performance boost vs. the same configuration running under Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
winbeta.org -
24.11.2007
