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Thread: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

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    Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    The benchmark numbers are in, is Windows 8 any faster than Windows 7?
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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Not defending Apple here as I am not big fan of their politics but tablet OS on Apple devices looks, feels and is tablet OS. Desktop OS is once again - desktop OS. While I like that Windows uses basically same core and can run nearly identical software (except on RT one that is) - there is no differentiation between the two. Why would I need touch-screen Modern/Metro/Annoying GUI as default (and without official possibility to default to Desktop only) when I don't have a touch-screen? And why would I need a touch-screen on desktop PC in first place when I am more than 1m away in first place. I am 6'2 but still my arms are not that freaking long and it's not comfy at all.
    So.. I think it is very capable OS its just that it was ruined by it's inability to default to Desktop (I can live without start menu, never mind that one, we have keyboard shortcuts for Run etc.). I don't want an OS that everyday screams at me - look, I have touch-screen functionality but you don't have one! In your face! No thanks. Hope next version of Windows will be actually smarter not just "smarter".

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    can you compare an AMD BD or PD on win8 now? would love to see what imporvements from the OS alone there are

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    My own experience (limited as only installed a couple of days ago) is that w8 feels a lot quicker than w7, it may be simply as a function of quicker to start and quicker to start programs. I am still not really happy with it as an OS but cannot fault it on speed

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Quote Originally Posted by HalloweenJack View Post
    can you compare an AMD BD or PD on win8 now? would love to see what imporvements from the OS alone there are
    +1 to this, please?

    The Win 8 thread scheduler is meant to be better optimised for BD-style modules, so it'd be interesting to see whether AMD do get any gains from Win 8...

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    From what I have Experienced is that Windows 8 gives a great performance increase on machines with not as powerful hardware compared to the massive power rigs that either gamers or enthusiasts have. I mean From using windows 8 in both a corporate and private environment I can find pro's and Con's to it compared to previous OS's and I can see the most common question coming up if people do migrate to windows 8 and that is where is my start Bar??. But from what I can see if that Microsoft are trying to push towards touch and ousting out the old traditional style of Windows(desktop/menu etc)and this is from Microsoft trying to get get a hold on the markets that are currently dominated by both apple and android devices. Although I find not much of a performance increase on my powerful AMD machine at home compared to my weak dual core machine in the office. But all in all I like it and I find it quite easy to work with in both environments.

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Quote Originally Posted by scaryjim View Post
    +1 to this, please?

    The Win 8 thread scheduler is meant to be better optimised for BD-style modules, so it'd be interesting to see whether AMD do get any gains from Win 8...
    They did get gains in the early previews - but so did the Intel offerings, in some cases more than the BD ones.
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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    "Microsoft needed to bring its flagship product up to date in a radical new way, and in Windows 8, it has finally combined the power of the PC with the flexibility of the tablet."

    I think the above quote from your review is the problem most folk will have with this new OS - it is quite obviously geared for tablets and if Microsoft wanted to try and corner that side of the market they should have done so with a new OS that was solely written for those devices and not the "jack of all trades and master of none" that they have ended up producing.

    At the very least they should have offered up different versions of the OS so users could have had Windows 8 tailored a bit more towards their own needs - whether that is desktops or indeed tablets.

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    8 is quite a bit quicker than 7 - although in this review the boot times for both look very long indeed compared to my system(!) Is hexus including POST etc?

    Typically I see boot times of ~8 seconds - my ulv laptop is near instant. Apps also seem to load a heck of a lot quicker too.
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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Quote Originally Posted by edvinasm View Post
    So.. I think it is very capable OS its just that it was ruined by it's inability to default to Desktop (I can live without start menu, never mind that one, we have keyboard shortcuts for Run etc.).
    Windows will never be all things to everyone - and you can already do what you mention anyway. I hated explorer in 7 - so I replaced it. If you don't like MUI or the start screen there are several alternatives.

    Yes MS have an agenda in what they're doing, and no it's far from complete in this version (how the heck could it be?) - the only question for buyers or upgraders is really whether there is something they can't do to tailor it to their individual needs. I suspect the answer is more often than not obvious - they can - as I very rarely read substantive reasons as to why 8 can't work for them. There can be solid reasons too - like driver compatibility (or lack of drivers altogether) but it's extremely rare to see them posted. Equally it's fine if you don't want to spend the cash

    OTOH today I read about some good apps for the Surface - and it was kind of weird to realise I could try them on my desktop (and I must admit I quite like news bento) even though I don't have the tablet. Interesting.

    Quote Originally Posted by davidcrofter View Post
    At the very least they should have offered up different versions of the OS so users could have had Windows 8 tailored a bit more towards their own needs - whether that is desktops or indeed tablets.
    I think MS learnt a lot from WinCE, WP and the complete failure of XP on tablets to think some new direction might be warranted.
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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Coukd you test DIRT3 please?

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Quote Originally Posted by HalloweenJack View Post
    can you compare an AMD BD or PD on win8 now? would love to see what imporvements from the OS alone there are
    Another +1

    The scheduler in W8 was supposed to be a big deal so it would be interesting to see how it stacks up against intel in this scenario.

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    "The touchscreen experience is practically nonexistent(1), music and video content is served primarily by third parties(2), the game selection is drying up(3), and there's no central app store(4)."
    1. So?
    2. So?
    3. No it isn't, go check steam.
    4. We don't want one.

    Although on the whole win8 looks reasonable, i see no reason to upgrade from 7 as yet.
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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Obscurity: so far I have ditched the music and video apps for the simply reason that they are advertising hoardings, gone back to the old WMP - if I want to stream music or video I go to you tube or equivalent or use internet radio stations. I do not care about touch - if anyone puts their greasy fingers on my nice shiny monitor the fingers get broken.

    Waiting for Firefox and Chrome to deliver W8 browsers so I can then choose to ditch IE10

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    What's stopping you form using Chrome on Windows 8 now? It works fine.
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
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    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Re: Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Four: Performance and Verdict

    Quote Originally Posted by edvinasm View Post
    Not defending Apple here as I am not big fan of their politics but tablet OS on Apple devices looks, feels and is tablet OS. Desktop OS is once again - desktop OS. While I like that Windows uses basically same core and can run nearly identical software (except on RT one that is) - there is no differentiation between the two.
    From Lion OS X onwards there's a rather annoying full-screen Apps system, unlike Windows 8 however, feels like it was slapped on purely to add the feel of an iPad to the desktop (it's not as useful). Likewise, there's a similar attempt at an app store, granted not quite the same but Microsoft clearly isn't alone here, mostly it's a way for OS makers to charge money on programs.

    Quote Originally Posted by cjs150 View Post
    Waiting for Firefox and Chrome to deliver W8 browsers so I can then choose to ditch IE10
    Chrome already supports Windows 8 including Modern UI mode, though there seems to be an occasional close-down bug where it thinks it hadn't closed cleanly but it's nothing major.

    On another note I'd also like to see BD and PD performance comparisons in Windows 8 and, yes the Hexus figures did include POST, would have liked to see them without + a review on a Windows 8-ready motherboard, which passes over to Windows almost instantly; performing a little in-head counting, on my Phenom II 1090T with a Vertex 4 SSD, boot-up and shut-down times were very similar to Hexus figures once I removed POST from the math and so fairly accurate I'd say. This should be much shorter with the correct motherboard in reality.

    Quote Originally Posted by Boywilluk View Post
    From what I have Experienced is that Windows 8 gives a great performance increase on machines with not as powerful hardware compared to the massive power rigs that either gamers or enthusiasts have. I mean From using windows 8 in both a corporate and private environment I can find pro's and Con's to it compared to previous OS's and I can see the most common question coming up if people do migrate to windows 8 and that is where is my start Bar??. But from what I can see if that Microsoft are trying to push towards touch and ousting out the old traditional style of Windows(desktop/menu etc)and this is from Microsoft trying to get get a hold on the markets that are currently dominated by both apple and android devices. Although I find not much of a performance increase on my powerful AMD machine at home compared to my weak dual core machine in the office. But all in all I like it and I find it quite easy to work with in both environments.
    My old ACER Timeline core2duo 1.5GHz with 5900rpm hard disk is blazing on Windows 8, the benefits are much more significant on a machine with I/O and CPU bottlenecks.

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