Video: Windows 7 promises faster boots and up to 15% better battery life
By Thomas Ricker 
posted November 6th 2008 5:05AM
posted November 6th 2008 5:05AM
Now that Windows 7 has launched into pre-Beta, Microsoft has joined the world in Vista-bashing as they look to differentiate their newest OS from the incumbent. Speaking to its hardware partners at WinHEC, Microsoft is promising faster shutdown and startup times and less power consumption than its beleaguered predecessor despite the two sharing the same code base. In addition to an overall reduction in the number of services launched at startup, faster booting is achieved by loading device drivers in parallel instead of sequentially. Windows 7 also manages wireless radios better allowing them to drop below 100% power draw while managing the connection. And by tweaking the OS kernel, the CPU can sometimes run at a lower frequency and stay idle longer. This results are a minimum of 11% better battery life for Windows 7 compared to Vista -- and we're still only talking about pre-Beta Windows 7 software, mind you. Nice. Windows 7 also promises better memory management. So instead of managing all the background windows, Win7 offloads this to the GPU, for example -- system memory is then free for your applications and data. Check the trio of videos demonstrating these improvements after the break. Vista vs. Windows 7 Boot Race
Vista vs Windows 7 Management
Vista vs Windows 7 Battery Life
No, we should get a proper update, like I said, not just a few lines of code changed, and a couple of bits of useless software for 90% of people.
Service pack, you ever heard of them?
"So MS finally fixed Vista but rather than releasing it as a service pack they will want you pay another $200+? ARE YOU NUTS! And then they wonder why more and more people chose OS X despite the higher hardware cost ..."
So go and pay 120+ dollars for a new "service pack" every two years, and feel better.
The last one gave you 300 new features.
Go ahead and list them. You wont, and you know why.
@Technex
If you actually used the pre-beta you would know that it is alot more than just a few different lines of code.
It's quite different from Vista and much better.
Service packs are roll ups of security and performance updates, the only time they added new features with one was XP SP2, and that was because SP1 was full of holes.
But feel free to pontificate like everyother sad hating geek on this page, TRY USING IT FIRST !
Here's the new features I've found on my copy of windows 7. Sounds like a little more than a hotfix/update:
* New UI Interface
* New Taskbar
* UAC simplification slider: You can define how and when you are prompted by the UAC, even shutting it off.
* UAC definition by program: You can also exempt specific programs from UAC prompts.
* Device Stage
* Homegroups
* Libraries in Explorer
* Math Input panel
* Calculator improvements
* MS Paint: Welcome the ribbon.
* Magnifier
* Gadgets across the desktop
* Simplified network connection stack
* Sticky windows (my definition)
* Preview Desktop
* Media Player Codec Expansion: Native support for AAC, H264, divx, xvid, AVCHD, flip video
* StreamOn: Ability to send audio and video output to networked A/V devices (think radios, receivers, and TV’s).
* Display Color Calibration Wizard
* Simplified Sideshow support
* Faster Boots will parallel device loading
* Simple Shutdown
For IT
* Action Center: There’s a good deal built into this function, but one of the most interesting features is a built in application that allows users record a walk through an action that generates an error and will email a system state and screenshots of each step to your IT support.
* Encryption of USB keys
* Workspaces Center
* Lite Touch Installation
* Improved Disk Defragment status
* Windows Solutions Center
* Better Multi monitor support for Remote Desktops and projectors
Under the hood
* Lighter footprint: Demonstrated using a 1ghz, 1 gig of ram.
* Longer Battery Life
* Increased Support for multicore CPUs: 250+ cores
* Multitouch
* Locations and Other Sensors: Added GPS integration and provisions for OS interactions with other sensors, such as accelerometers.
* Credential Manager
* Troubleshooting improvements w/ real world info
* Less Versions/SKU’s: *Rumor*
Sounds great!
At the end of the day all I really care about is performance. I don't give a shit about all those extra fancy features.
You'll lose weight! Increase your manhood! Gain stamina! Faster start-up time!
Although to be honest I started getting excited about Windows 7 as soon as I heard about improved SSD performance (don't have one,but may want to upgrade soon).
Looks like this will be an OS to look forward to!
sounds great MS... let's get this one real good and then Vista can quietly fade away. :P
Why do I only read "Highly Ranked" posts...?
Indeed... why skip the low/lowest ranked posts and risk missing out on crap like this?
I'm sure you've never heard someone say "Oh look, a train wreck", 'cause it's not like people really need to be told to look at one.
I had to use Vista today... god dam. This is my experience:
Do you want to access your own files on your own USB drive?
CONTINUE, CONTINUE, ALLOW, CONTINUE, OK, YES, REALLY YES, CONTINUE
The first thing you want to do on Vista is disabling parental control (the admin user control to be exact, its easy and makes life...faster).
Can be disabled, first thing I do.
I'm sure the 60 year old bookkeeper who owned the computer must have forgotten about that in their haste to start hammering away in visual studio.
been promised faster boot times before. Don't see anything here that'll really deliver it. Other poster is right. Seeing the desktop means nothing if it's not responsive. Smoke and mirrors.
Is the idea of having a gaming boot mode that only loads into a stripped down version still on the table?
Okay, its nice for laptops. But how about the desktop variants? Will Win7 run Dx10 games faster and make gamers finally able to move on from XP? Or is it going to be even worse?
I'm not talking about Crysis or Crysis WarHEAD here. I'm talking about Call of Juarez, Lost Planet and other Dx10 titles. As you know everything runs slower in Dx10.
Dude, you obviously know nothing about video hardware.
The reason DX10 runs slower is because IT HAS BETTER GRAPHICS. Try running a PS3 game on a Wii. There is no "fix" for making the Wii to be able to play the game as fast as the PS3. Thats why there are better graphics cards nowadays that support DX10 and are REALLY fast.
Oh well, promises from Microsoft ...
I couldn't care less about boot times (computer is almost never rebooted but rather put to sleep) but increased battery life is always welcome. If you can put a Windows 7 laptop to sleep such that it will wake up and not bitch about running out of Virtual Memory then that would be great (note: comment based on XP SP2 laptops).
like those up to 99% off sales, only a few useless item that price, I never like 'up to' claims, it could very well be using more battery for most people.
what's with faster boot up time? they claim xp boots up faster than 98, vista boots up faster than xp, but I see just the opposite.
So you got those '300 new features' for free from Apple then, right?
Uh huh.
And 'more people choose OSX than Vista'. What the hell?
Exactly what features were taken from Apple and what makes you think Apple originated them to begin with?
Back in the day, I had a Toshiba Sat Pro 400CDT, it had a Pentium 75 MHz processor and 40MB of RAM; it booted Win95 in less than 40 seconds from when I pressed the power button. Give me
...
Give me
Give me
What the hell do you want?
You know what boots faster... Windows 98.
On modern hardware, older versions of Windows are lightening fast. I'd gladly give up some of the modern glass to regain some of that speed.
It also crashes every 20 minutes, has poor security, and no support for modern hardware. And people bitch about how crappy they perceive Vista to be.
I'll take a the modern NT based OS anyday.
Clearly, you want MS-DOS 6.22. Maybe with Windows 3.1, but that might slow down your rig that you built for Crysis.
I'd sooner slit my wrists than go back to the horrors known as Win98 or WinMe.
that looks pretty cool, it's good to see microsoft back on track
and with the new Ge Force Nvidia just released with higher memory capabilities i think windows 7 will even make more use of that..
After the Vista launch with the 8800's and the nvdlmkkm.sys errors, I'll never buy another geforce again. I've never seen a company drop the ball so hard or take so long to pick it back up again...they were part of the design of the new driver interface yet they couldn't get it right for over a year? Not saying ATI is any better, don't get me wrong.
I wish they would show boot times between XP and Win7. Vista is slower than XP on my boxes.
Work It Harder, Make It Better, Do It Faster, Makes Us stronger
Our work is never over :(
Now do it with your fingers ^_^
Maybe if they work really hard they will deliver the boot time and power consumption of Windows XP! It would be a major improvement over Vista...
I've been running Win7 [6801] with the new taskbar enabled for about 4 days, I'm having a better experience with this pre-beta than with Vista RTM.
It's very fast, the new taskbar is excellent (and nothing like a dock) everything works and I'm running it on a 3Ghz P4 with 1GB Ram, REALEASE IT QUICK I NEED IT !
uhhh I can't wait! Windows 7!! another marketing theft from MS...yeah they like the $300.00 or $400.00 for a OS that will always be BETA version!
How ugly do they need to make the presentation??
Honestly all this comparison with Vista make it seem like all of these things in Windows 7 should have been in Vista in the first place. This is my first time paying attention to a Windows launch, so do they always compare the short comings of the previous Windows with the new one? Or do they usually present the new features (not improvements) of the new Windows vs the previous Windows? I also don't really like how they're naming this, it's really Windows 6.1, but they're calling it 7? Don't see the significance in it, since it technically ain't the 7th Windows in any way? Minor thing anyways... I hope to see new features in upcoming coverage of Windows 7, and not Vista fixes. This version of Windows should at least be a cheaper upgrade than from XP to Vista since this one is essentially Vista with it's fixes. I mean, didn't they state that it's built on Vista?
Also, all this junk about 7 being the XP, I really can't see that. Sure it performs a bit better, but if you're expecting crap from XP to work on 7 better than Vista, didn't they say "Whatever worked on Vista will work on 7"? Doesn't that mean whatever problems you still had with compatibility on Vista still will be problems on 7?
I'm sure this time 7 will be a great OS, but for Vista users, I'm sure many of them will be peeved, and would like to see a discount on 7, or a lower price tag on the upgrade on 7. So far I haven't seen much regarding security of 7, it's all been "mildly-minor" performance tweaks, and a ton of focus on the new task bar which to me looks really cluttered, and not too usefull, thought Aero Peek looks useful, the bar itself doesn't, it's thicker and the icons are bigger >.> I like my screen space thank you very much. Hopefully more features that help the user interface with the user-interface surface that are actually helpful like Aero Peek. That battery life got my attention, Aero Peek, and UAC slider all great things, here's hope for more good things to come to make it more different from Vista.
"do they always compare the short comings of the previous Windows with the new one? Or do they usually present the new features (not improvements) of the new Windows vs the previous Windows?"
These are videos from with WinHEC, the Windows Hardware Engineers Conference. Obviously things boot performance and battery life are going to be of prime interest to this audience. New features such as the taskbar and multitouch were demoed already at the Professional Developers Conferenceo on the 27th. Performance improvements are usually contrasted with the previous version of windows because, being a Windows developer conference, hardware or otherwise, that's what the audience is currently using.
"I also don't really like how they're naming this, it's really Windows 6.1, but they're calling it 7? Don't see the significance in it, since it technically ain't the 7th Windows in any way?"
This issue is completely irrelevant for end users, but the MS corprate VP Mike Nash has been has something on this topic:
"There's been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7. It is not.
Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers."
"Doesn't that mean whatever problems you still had with compatibility on Vista still will be problems on 7?"
Yes and no. There are going to be some applications which will never work, (those that expect and require administrative privledges. But MS has been releasing compatibility packs all the time, helping programs work with Vista. In 7, there is a compatibility analyzer which will help determine what an EXE needs to work on the OS.
"I'm sure many of them will be peeved, and would like to see a discount on 7, or a lower price tag on the upgrade on 7."
An upgrade from XP to Vista Home Premium is $74 on amazon. I don't think that's too much of a burden, and I'd expect similar prices for Windows 7.
"the bar itself doesn't, it's thicker and the icons are bigger >.> I like my screen space thank you very much."
The new bar is 10px taller than the old one. On a 1280x800 screen that's a 1% decrease in screen space. If you want, you can enable small icons and disable grouping to make it look just like the Vista taskbar. Of course, there's always auto-hide as well. As for being cluttered I don't see where you're coming from with that, since in every aspect, from removing quicklaunch to consolidating icons in the notification area, the new taskbar is less cluttered.
Simply the best..... Mac luvers u need 2 shut up & learn how to listen hahahaa
So the big question is what's the increase of battery life over XP?
I wish they had included the boot speed of XP in the video too.
If Windows 7 runs well on my MSI Wind I am sold.
i love it how Microsoft make the boot time such a significant benefit. i guess because Windows users are constantly having to restart their machine, quicker booting seems like a great thing.