windows 7

[lybb]

I recently borrowed a friend's laptop a sony model with windows 7 & found it extremly slow, compared to my windows xp desktop system. Do others think this is the case as I was debating about a new laptop in the foreseeable future & do not want to make a mistake.

Lybb

 

[Simon Garrett]

I recently borrowed a friend's laptop a sony model with windows 7 & found it extremly slow, compared to my windows xp desktop system.

I don't find W7 slower on the same hardware, provided you have enough memory. W7 needs more, and a system with 2G memory or less might be slower than a corresponding XP system. Some things run faster, and W7 boots faster than XP in most cases.

Do others think this is the case as I was debating about a new laptop in the foreseeable future & do not want to make a mistake.

If you're thinking of XP on a new machine, I wouldn't recommend it. Nothing wrong with XP, but it's over 10 years old, and increasingly you'll find that new software won't run on XP. Also, XP won't run on some new machines - people don't write drivers for XP for new hardware.
--
Simon

 

[hotdog321]

Were the computer specs the same? You may be comparing apples to oranges. Also, Sony tends to load their computers up with special Sony bloatware--I've owned two Vaios and it took awhile to clean their junk out.

If you are getting a new machine, go with Win 7. It has 64-bit support, plus many of the newer programs are designed for Win 7. Also, I've found it to be a solid, robust OS--genuinely better than XP.

 

[Stevequad]

I agree!

Were the computer specs the same? You may be comparing apples to oranges. Also, Sony tends to load their computers up with special Sony bloatware--I've owned two Vaios and it took awhile to clean their junk out.

If you are getting a new machine, go with Win 7. It has 64-bit support, plus many of the newer programs are designed for Win 7. Also, I've found it to be a solid, robust OS--genuinely better than XP.

--
Have Fun!
Steve

 

[herebefore]

I recently borrowed a friend's laptop a sony model with windows 7 & found it extremly slow, compared to my windows xp desktop system. Do others think this is the case as I was debating about a new laptop in the foreseeable future & do not want to make a mistake.

Lybb

If you buy a "budget" laptop with Windows 7 on it, it will probably be slow.

It wont be slow because of Windows 7, it will be slow because it was built to be slow.

Unless you spend thousands instead of hundreds to buy a laptop, it will be slower than most desktops, as laptops almost always are slower than desktops.. They are built to get 3 to 6 hours out of a battery pack instead of a wall socket.. there is a sacrifice involved.

--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Connecticut

'If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.'
-Ronald Reagan

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
Oscar Wilde

 

[hotdog321]

The one way to boost laptop speed to almost desktop speed is installing a SSD. I cloned and replaced my laptop's HD with a SSD and it suddenly became almost as fast as my brand new overpowered desktop.

I spent about $1100 for a new i7 laptop, upgrading to 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Not bad, not bad at all. I suspect it will blow the doors off a MacBook Air.

I'm turning into a real fanboy for SSD--especially for laptops. I'll never settle for a normal HD again.

 

[Sean Nelson]

The one way to boost laptop speed to almost desktop speed is installing a SSD. I cloned and replaced my laptop's HD with a SSD and it suddenly became almost as fast as my brand new overpowered desktop.

Agree 100%.

The most common reason that a laptop is slow is when it has a 5400 (or even worse, 4200) rpm hard drive so as not to drain the battery too quickly. The slower rotational speed, combined with the smaller track capacity of the 2.5" drive (versus the 3.5" drives found in desktop computers) has a huge impact on performance. This is almost always a much bigger factor than the type of CPU or the amount of RAM that you have.

An SSD is an ideal solution for laptops because it's super fast and is very battery-friendly.

 

[hotdog321]

. . . and it may be my imagination, but it seems CS5 really benefits from an SSD. The difference pre- and post-SSD was startling. Easily 2x to 3X faster processing on massive RAW files.

 

[gtblackwell]

I agree for all the reasons well expressed by Simon. I have a home assembled desktop and switched from XP to 7 Enterprise just to keep up with current hard and software. No significant speed change either way.
--
NA

 

[poppa68]

OK I am embarrassed to have to ask. What is SSD ??

 

[jalimb]

solid state drive
the new ones built on transistor memory cells instead of a magnetic platter.

OK I am embarrassed to have to ask. What is SSD ??

 

[hotdog321]

Think of the SSD as a really big CF or SD card. They work just like the regular spinning platter hard drives, but are expensive, shock resistant and very, very fast. I put one in my brand new TimelineX and was stunned by the improvement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO3PRCeAAgM&feature=youtube_gdata

There are other benefits, too. if the price ever drops, I think normal hard drives will go the way of the floppy disk.

 

[lanef]

I have Win 7 on both my mini HP Laptop (4.5 years old) an my PC and I find the it quite fast. I had Vista on both before which was the worst OP I have experienced.

 

[tarnish]

There will be many things labeled Google, Java, Adobe, your antivirus program, Intel, and whatever brand name the PC is. There will be many other items as well. A lot of it is useless to you but every one slows down the boot when they load.

Start Menu / search programs and files (at the bottom window) / type in msconfig / click it / go to the Startup tab and clear out the chaff.

If you disable something that should have been left alone and later experience a problem, go back in and re-eneable it. No permanent damage will be done because this is not uninstalling anything. The surest way to proceed is to not disable too many things at once in any single boot cycle.

Go back into msconfig after EVERY new program that you install. Nip the junk in the bud.

Another important tip is to pick your anti-malware program according to which one has a minimal impact at boot time. Some are terrible. This won't be your only criterion but it should be considered. The reviews at CNET cover this aspect.

 

[calson]

Windows 7 is 40% slower on the same PC as running Window XP. Microsoft liked to boast that Windows 7 was 20% faster than Vista, being very careful not to compare it to XP.

Most of the new computers can accommodate 8GB of RAM and have the i3/i5/i7 Intel processors and can provide a bigger memory space for Photoshop that partly negates the inefficiency of the Windows 7 operating system.

Windows 7 still carries over the crazy registry and DLL system of previous versions of Windows and shares their deficiencies in this regard. If you want a robust and modern operating system you have to pay the premium prices for Apple computers. Nothing comes for free.

 

[Simon Garrett]

Windows 7 is 40% slower on the same PC as running Window XP. Microsoft liked to boast that Windows 7 was 20% faster than Vista, being very careful not to compare it to XP.

I've converted a couple of machines to W7 (that is, where I've experience of XP and W7 on the same hardware) and did a few rudimentary benchmarks. Most operations were about the same speed, some slower on W7 and some (boot-up and network operations, for example) faster on W7.

Windows 7 still carries over the crazy registry and DLL system of previous versions of Windows and shares their deficiencies in this regard.

Well, if you really want to see software weighed down by legacy issues, look at Photoshop. Twenty three years old, and boy it shows!
--
Simon

 

[Jen Yates]

Windows 7 is 40% slower on the same PC as running Window XP.

That's just completely untrue. Now while I'm a mac user 99% of the time, and you spouting rubbish like this can only serve to bring more people over to the "It just works" Apple camp, throwing out such untrue claims without justification or evidence doesn't help.

Windows 7 is not a bad OS at all, it's quicker at some things than XP, and slower at a few others. All in all, it's a better OS.

If you're running eight year old hardware then stick with XP, for everyone else upgrade as and when you need to.