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Nov

30

The right time to assess Windows Vista’s performance

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Measuring the performance of an operating system is a tricky thing.  At the same time, it’s the right and necessary thing to do, because performance is one of many criteria important to customers.  Part of the trick of measuring performance is to time testing execution with the product cycle such that the results are as meaningful as possible for customers; this helps them make a better decision by making use of the full array of available information.  As one example, about a year ago we commissioned a firm called Principled Technologies to conduct a study comparing Windows XP SP2 to Windows Vista RTM.  That study found the performance measures of the two operating systems were within the same range for many tasks that home and business users frequently perform under real-world conditions.


My point is that we waited to conduct these benchmarking tests until Windows Vista had reached the RTM milestone in the product cycle, as this allowed us to provide our customers the most meaningful data available at the time — the data most likely to directly affect their decision to upgrade to Windows Vista.  We do a whole range of performance tests at every stage of the OS development process, but, as a general rule, we avoid sharing benchmark tests of software that hasn’t gone RTM (i.e., final code).  This explains why we have not to date published any findings of benchmark tests (nor commissioned anyone to do so) on performance improvements brought about by Windows Vista SP1.  Publishing benchmarks of the performance of Windows Vista SP1 now wouldn’t be a worthwhile exercise for our customers, as the code is still in development and, to the degree that benchmarking tests are involved, remains a moving target.


Aside from that point, let me also emphasize that there are a variety of ways to benchmark the performance of a PC.  Different techniques can yield different results.  Some benchmark techniques simply test PC hardware performance by running a series of tasks at superhuman speed.  Such tests tend to exaggerate small differences between test platforms and consequently are used less frequently nowadays, replaced in favor of benchmarks running tasks at human speeds with realistic waits and data entry.  Benchmarks that run at superhuman speeds often deliver results that don’t tell the whole story.  In fact, we made deliberate choices during the development of Windows Vista to focus on real-world scenarios affecting user experience, rather than focusing on improvement of microsecond operations imperceptible to the user.  In addition, in Windows many operations can require additional processing time for work that is done for reasons that benefit the customer; these can include security, reliability or application compatibility checks conducted when a program launches.  These operations may add microseconds to an individual application’s launch that under real usage isn’t perceivable to the human eye.  When thousands such operations are strung together through automation, those few microseconds can have a cumulative effect on the benchmark result, causing performance to appear much better or worse than expected.


I’ve included below a video we captured depicting a “benchmark test” running a window-open, window-close routine at accelerated speed.  You can see that it isn’t representative of real-world user behavior and hence isn’t an accurate gauge of the actual end-user experience.  Further, tests like these only measure a very small set of Windows capabilities and so aren’t representative of the user’s overall day-to-day experience of working with Windows and running applications.



Video: Windows Vista benchmark testing


Methods like those of Principled Technologies that actually approximate the experience of using the PC, taking an OS through the paces of completing actual tasks at the approximate pace a user might click through them, tend to provide results far more useful to our customers.  The typical Windows customer generally wants to know how his/her actual computing experience will change (read: improve) with an upgrade.  The Principled Technologies tests do that.


For what it’s worth, I can personally attest that I prefer to get my work done on Windows Vista SP1 RC bits.  I run Windows Vista RTM on two production machines and SP1 RC bits on two others; in fact, I’m writing this post on a machine with SP1 RC bits installed.  As a part of our internal SP1 testing program, I know that we continue to develop and improve SP1 every day, in large part based on feedback and bug submissions from external an internal Beta-test program members.  IMO, the perceived gains in performance between SP1 Beta and SP1 RC code are significant.  As I said at the beginning, though, performance is only part of the story — don’t forget that SP1 also brings support for new types of hardware and several emerging standards, and further eases an IT administrator’s deployment and management efforts.


But don’t take my word alone for it.  We’ll broaden the testing pool of SP1 RC bits soon (very soon), so when I post that notice here on the blog, you’ll be able to put Windows Vista SP1 RC through its paces yourself.  I think you’ll find the experience worthwhile and satisfying.

Nov

29

Change Your Logon Background in Windows Vista

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

I caught this via Steve Clayton (who caught it via Jeff Sandquist showing off his home) - Stardock has a really neat application called LogonStudio that allows you to change the background of your logon screen in Windows Vista. I absolutely love the space background.


LogonStudio is available as a free download and also allows you to create your own backgrounds as well as download logon backgrounds via Stardock’s WinCustomize Gallery too. Folks who create their own backgrounds can submit them to the WinCustomize Gallery. Give it a try. Let me know what you think.

Nov

27

Checking out Dell’s Vostro 1500 Business Laptop

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

Dell Vostro 1500


Two weeks ago my new Dell Vostro 1500 arrived. Dell’s Vostro Notebook line-up is a relatively new line-up of laptops that cater to business users.  While I love the Tablet PC experience the HP tx1000 offers, I was in need for something a little more powerful. I’m the type of guy that likes to feel like I am taking my desktop PC with me when I travel.


Dell Vostro 1500 Dell Vostro 1500 Dell Vostro 1500 - Media Buttons Dell Vostro 1500


After looking at the specs for the Vostro 1500, I decided to customize it for some added benefit. Here are the specs on my Vostro 1500:



With Windows Vista Ultimate (this laptop deserves nothing less), the Vostro 1500 has everything I need in a laptop and makes “going mobile” much easier. It has a Windows Experience Index of 4.6 with the lowest rating being Graphics. The rest of the scores are the highest I’ve seen on a laptop to-date.



For the first time, I am enjoying running at 802.11 N with the Vostro 1500. Right now as I wrote my post on the Vostro, I’m running at 130Mbps.Works absolutely amazing. My router, the D-Link DIR-625 RangeBooster N Router, supports 802.11 N but I’ve not had a device with 802.11 N wireless capabilities until now. The DIR-625 was part of D-Link’s initial wave of devices that took advantage of and supported Windows Vista when Windows Vista launched last January.


Dell Vostro 1500 - Built in Webcam Dell Vostro 1500 - Close up Dell Vostro 1500 - Ports Dell Vostro 1500 - Touch pad
Dell Vostro 1500 - Mobile Broadband Dell Vostro 1500 - DVD-RW Dell Vostro 1500 - Status lights & icons


After 2 weeks with the Vostro 1500, I’m really happy with my decision. I’ve still got more experiences to write about, such as using the Mobile Broadband wireless capability but I’ll save that for another post. I’ve updated my What I Use page to reflect the Vostro 1500 - check it out.


Also: my new HP MediaSmart Server arrives this week. I plan on having a post up on rolling out Windows Home Server in my home by the end of the week. I look forward to getting the HP MediaSmart Server set up.


Images of the Dell Vostro 1500 were uploaded to my Flickr account using Windows Live Photo Gallery.Click here for the full set of photos of the Dell Vostro 1500.

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