How Does Windows 7 Compare to Vista? (Part 2)

To fairly compare the performance characteristics of Windows Vista and Windows 7, I installed both operating systems on my computer and ran some basic, everyday kinds of tests on them. To learn how I did this, click here. My computer is a Dell Inspiron E1505 with a 2 GHz Core^tm 2 Duo processor with 2 GB RAM. It's not a very powerful computer, but this machine exceeds all of the minimum requirements for both systems.

I was not sure what the performance tests would show, but I figured that the results would be fairly close. Newer operating systems require higher performance hardware for the advanced features and graphics, so running two operating systems on the same computer should give something of a performance advantage to the older operating system. (Just imagine running Windows 95 on a modern computer.)

First Test

The first performance test compared the time it took the computer to start, go to standby, return from standby, and shut down. I did each of these actions 3 times and averaged them.

Result: Windows 7 performed 57% faster then Vista on this test.

Second Test

The second performance test was the time taken to install applications.

Result: Windows 7 was 36% faster installing these smaller applications.

I ran into a problem while installing Nero, a disc-burning application. First, I installed the software on Windows 7. It took 13 minutes. When I installed Nero on Vista, it took 19 minutes. I thought that this was too large of a difference, after all, both computers are using the same hardware. So I uninstalled Nero on Vista, and then reinstalled it. This time, the installation took 23 minutes. I was expecting it to be either the same as the first time, or closer to the time it took with Windows 7. I don't know why it took 4 minutes longer the second time, so I decided to uninstall Nero on Windows 7 and then reinstall it to see what would happen. The second install with Windows 7 took only about 30 seconds longer then the first. To me, this seems acceptable. Windows 7 performed this part of the test much faster then Vista.

Result: Windows 7 was 60% faster installing these larger applications.

Third Test

The third performance test was transferring and burning data files. I transferred 4 GB of music from an external hard drive, and then burned these files to a DVD.

Result: Windows 7 averaged 6.29% faster then Vista during this test.

This test was the closest between the two operating systems. This is probably due to the speed of USB 2.0 and the speed of the DVD burner. Both times, however, Windows 7 was slightly faster.

The total time for Vista to perform these tests was 45 minutes 9 seconds, while Windows 7 only needed 34 minutes 6 seconds (32.4% faster). Not only is this operating system higher performing then its predecessor, it is also loaded with new advanced features, features that are not seen in any other operating system, all of which I will explain next week in part 3 of this series.