Windows 8 Even More Resource Efficient Than Windows 7
Your old PC that came with Windows Vista will still run Windows 8 quite well. In fact, all you need is an old Intel Atom netbook with 1GB of RAM.
Usually a new version of Windows demands higher system requirements than the one before it. This wasn't the case with Windows 7, and it looks like it also won't be the case for Windows 8.
Microsoft yesterday demonstrated on stage at the Build event Windows 8 running on a three-year-old Lenovo S10 netbook, which packed an early model of the Intel Atom CPU and 1GB of RAM. Not only did it run Windows 8, but it ran it better than it could Windows 7.
The latest version of Windows 7 was demonstrated running with about 404 MB of RAM used for 32 processes. Windows 8 in its current, unfinished state is doing the same with about 281 MB and 29 processes.
This is not only good news for those who are still running on computers that are several years old, but it's also for those seeking a performance boost from the greater efficiency. Hopefully this will also translate into better power consumption numbers for notebook users.
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Microsoft always touts and hypes things up before release, but rarely do they ever come through. I'll believe it when I see it.
I am little more skeptical than some are now days but then again from their tablet demo even a chicken or pigeon could use.
Microsoft always touts and hypes things up before release, but rarely do they ever come through. I'll believe it when I see it.
Maybe so, but if it is actually true, it'll be nice. Win7 is already resource-friendly and Win8 is promised to be even better. Let's see if it will be done.
... and this is why "pc sales are going down the drain" even though i personally don't believe that they are necessarily. It is because the avg. user does not need any i-series cpu's, much less bulldozer amd cpu's or anything. All you need is that beat up old, 5 year old computer sitting in the cornere to be able to use Windows 8 (the latest and greatest in the eyes of the avg consumer). Why would you ever need to buy a new computer, then, if you can check your email, use facebook and watch online movies without much problem?
gg
Microsoft always touts and hypes things up before release, but rarely do they ever come through. I'll believe it when I see it.
What part of they demonstrated live on a three-year-old Lenovo S10 netbook did you not get?
Betas always start out this way. Wait until the "good idea fairies" get done adding all of their cool features and then measure resource requirements.
Been there, done that, all the way back to NT5/W2K and every version since then.
I'm less concerned with this than I used to be, now that greater system resources are commonplace. Especially memory. Memory is so cheap now that any system can have 8GB for only $35. Based on this, why not make everything faster even if it is at the cost of memory usage? People with 3-year-old netbooks aren't going to spend the $100 to upgrade to this from XP, they would just buy a new netbook for about the same cost.
How much of that windows 7 is from windows updates?
... and this is why "pc sales are going down the drain" even though i personally don't believe that they are necessarily. It is because the avg. user does not need any i-series cpu's, much less bulldozer amd cpu's or anything. All you need is that beat up old, 5 year old computer sitting in the cornere to be able to use Windows 8 (the latest and greatest in the eyes of the avg consumer). Why would you ever need to buy a new computer, then, if you can check your email, use facebook and watch online movies without much problem?gg
Are you seriously moaning that the new OS from microsoft is TOO efficient.
Some people will find something wrong with everything.
MS is getting more efficient and demands fewer resources with Windows 8.
Ubuntu is getting bloated and slower with Unity.
WTF just happened, it's like some sort of bizarro world.
Are you seriously moaning that the new OS from microsoft is TOO efficient.Some people will find something wrong with everything.
I don't think he's moaning, but instead reflecting. The more efficient windows becomes, the less new hardware the average consumer needs.
I doubt we'll see a PC sales revival until there's new software that both requires heavy system performance and enables the consumer to do something they absolutely can't live without.
This is in no way a bad thing though.
MS is getting more efficient and demands fewer resources with Windows 8.
Ubuntu is getting bloated and slower with Unity.
WTF just happened, it's like some sort of bizarro world.
I like it. And Unity can be switched off
It's logical... no matter how much people flame MS, I'm sure they have enough sane people there to make a good OS (Win7 is, after all, a great one!). I just hope they don't pull a Vista on us, when they released a beta of Win7 as a full OS.
I don't think he's moaning, but instead reflecting. The more efficient windows becomes, the less new hardware the average consumer needs.
I doubt we'll see a PC sales revival until there's new software that both requires heavy system performance and enables the consumer to do something they absolutely can't live without.
This is in no way a bad thing though.
More PC gaming is all it takes. I hope that hardware companies will eventually realize that they'll make moar profit if they shift half of console n00bs to PC.
Just make the resources usage to XP level and the power usage level to Windows 7 level.
Test machine:
Toshiba Sat A300-177
230Gb hard drive
2Gb ram
9.08Gb - Initial used space
63 - running services
528Mb - In use
Not bad considering a bran new HP 6460b/HP 5330m/HP 8640p will ship with OVER 100 processes straight out of the box! I'd expect a tablet to kick the above 63 to near the 70 mark but of course this is the DEVELOPER PREVIEW SO ANYTHING CAN CHANGE! It's amazing how people can't seem to understand that.
Fewer resources as in memory use can also appear that way due to tweaking superfetch ("Oh no my laptop is using 2.7Gb ram and I'm worried but then again I have no idea what superfetch is" brigade would scream if they left it how it was)
P.s. In this day and age 4Gb is VERY cheap while 8Gb is hardly going to break the bank
I think they learned a thing or two from WP7.
With how much of a resource hog Vista was, I wouldn't be surprised if computers that could run Vista could run Windows 10!
I think already I'm getting Windows 8 fatigue after hearing so much about it. I just bought Win7 less than a year ago, so there's no way I'm forking over $100 - $200 for Windows 8, no matter how much these "amazing features" are touted on all these tech sites.
Are you seriously moaning that the new OS from microsoft is TOO efficient.Some people will find something wrong with everything.
Increasing resource consumption by the OS is what has driven Moore's law... I dont want to see P4s in 10 years from now.
Not to old mind you. one or the requirements is WDDM (Windows Display Driver Module) Some early DX9 chips do not conform, such as Intel GMA 900.
Win 7 will work without WDDM but you lose all the gloss like Aero, which is non essential, Windows 8 leverages the GPU in Metro to the extent of WDDM class DX9 GPU!
So don't get your hopes up for reviving that 5yr old Laptop if its running a crappy Intel GPU!
i think windows 8 has new Direct X that support newer games on pc ,for now there is few DX11 games and win8 will bring new DX ...so what will happen ?
"Increasing resource consumption by the OS is what has driven Moore's law... I dont want to see P4s in 10 years from now."
What are you smoking and where can I get some? People care about the programs that run on TOP of the OS, not the OS itself. Especially people that are concerned about speed. The less resources the OS uses the more I can utilize for whatever I actually want to ACCOMPLISH ie gaming, folding proteins, database queries, whatever.
People have taken my comments waaay out of context. I love Windows 7 over Vista any day. I think it's great they're touting better efficiency, but this is still too early in the game to brag about it. We've seen too many promised features about past versions of Windows that do not make it into the retail product.
Betas always start out this way. Wait until the "good idea fairies" get done adding all of their cool features and then measure resource requirements. Been there, done that, all the way back to NT5/W2K and every version since then.
Clearly you skipped Windows Vista and 7. Did you even look at the graphic above? Clearly Windows 7 with SP1 ran with fewer resources than Windows 7 preview did.
More important to me is ..Has MS improved windows update?
If so could they PLEASE stop with the service packs (which always seem to cause issues) and just implement a stream of regular updates!
More important to me is ..Has MS improved windows update?
If so could they PLEASE stop with the service packs (which always seem to cause issues) and just implement a stream of regular updates!
Umm... they DO have regular updates besides the SPs.
Microsoft always touts and hypes things up before release, but rarely do they ever come through. I'll believe it when I see it.
I don't disagree with you, per se... But they lived up to the hype in Windows 7... Best OS they ever made, in that it was one of the most functional OSs they had ever made and reduced the hardware footprint below that of their 10 year old OS, while maintaining a good deal of backwards compatibility.
Umm... they DO have regular updates besides the SPs.
Patch Tuesday is there every month or so, and they do daily updates for MSE...
@dickcheney
windows 7 was more efficient with resources then windows vista, clearly the i7 is a much slower CPU then core 2 Duo.......
I'm glad to see that Microsoft is stepping in the right direction.
It is not only the games that drive the growing PC performance requirements, it is also all these anti-malware programs. They are taking more CPU usage at every new version, and to the difference of gaming just every PC needs these programs. See how your PC suddenly runs quick and smooth when the internet link is disconnected and that all these anti-everything are disabled.
Interesting strategy...bloat up every other version of an OS so then in the next release you can kill the bloat and claim you improved efficiency.
How much does XP use per-chance?