Windows 8 vs Windows 7(speed)
That's
about it in terms of significant feature changes, but Microsoft would
have us believe that Windows 8 is much faster than Windows 7 - it
certainly works on the same hardware, which removes one barrier to
upgrade. (And it won't be an expensive upgrade, either.)
Bill
Karagounis, Principal Group Program Manager for the Windows 8
Fundamentals Team, recently claimed that startup times were 40
percent faster than Windows 7 on the same hardware, and that the
memory footprint of the new OS is '10 to 20 percent better'. He said
that the Windows code base comfortably scales on all devices from
tablets right up to workstation PCs, and demonstrated Windows 7 and
Windows 8 running on similar laptops, with relatively low
specifications (including just 1GB RAM).
According
to a demonstration Karagounis ran, Windows 7 uses 389MB of system
memory, Windows 8 only 330MB. And this in an operating system that
includes more functionality.
Karagounis
also showed how an older Asus UltraBook with a second-generation
Intel chip could boot from cold in just 8 seconds. However, he said
that Windows 8 was intended to be what he called 'always on, always
connected'. 'You don't boot and shut down Windows 8', he said.
Further, he suggested that the OS was designed to be always running
switching on and off instantly like a smartphone. He demonstrated the
power draw of an Intel-system on a chip Windows 8 slate, using
virtually no power in sleep mode, with only the occasional tiny peak
when it checked for or received data.
The
device was, he said, connected to the web, working in the background
in a mode he described as 'connected standby'. Karagounis sent an IM
to the slate, at which point he power draw peaked and the device set
off an alert. This status applies to Windows RT PCs, and Intel SoC
PCs . In the demonstration the power draw goes up instantly something
then happens, and then drops off quickly when so-called connected
standby kicks in.
