Windows 7: Release Candidate 1 Preview
by Ryan Smith and Gary Key on May 5, 2009 11:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Gaming Results
We debated on which direction to go with the gaming test results. Since we will be taking another look at gaming with both the NVIDIA and AMD solutions later, we decided on a 1920x1080 resolution with 2xAA enabled and 8xAF where applicable. Our in-game settings are set to high quality. The minimum frame rates are listed in the text field next to the operating system description.
NVIDIA promised performance gains with Windows 7 over Vista and they delivered. While the gains are not significant in our limited choice of titles, NVIDIA provided internal testing reports with other games indicating the greatest performance differences will come with SLI setups in most major titles. We certainly noticed this in Company of Heroes with improved average frame rates but more importantly in minimum frame rates. We are still verifying their claims, but at this point it appears Windows 7 will be a very solid gaming platform.
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Gary Key - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
We have an additional article coming with ATI vs NV, IGP, netbook, and we will delve into storage and networking with a Promise NAS server. I just received Win7 specific network drivers so I will complete the multi-task testing shortly.Natfly - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
Thank god for the media center improvements. ClearQAM support FINALLY, after hearing almost nothing for years. Better codec support is also extremely welcome.flipmode - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
While Vista’s adoption has not been a failure, it hasn’t necessarily been a success story either.What? Can you please explain to me how you define "failure" as it pertains to Microsoft's OS? Doesn't it have about 5% penetration in business? You don't call that failure? You can't define the term based on consumer products - consumers who buy off the shelf PCs have no choice in the matter.
Ryan Smith - Thursday, May 7, 2009 - link
For what it's worth, my definition of failure would be "Businesses won't take it, and the consumers situation is so bad that the majority of OEMs are still shipping XP as the default desktop OS".Vista didn't go well for Microsoft, but the fact that the vast majority of computers being sold are using Vista and the guys in our forums are using Vista near-exclusively is proof to me that it clearly wasn't a failure. A late bloomer perhaps, or maybe a lame duck.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
Businesses can be extremely slow to change, with some still using Win2k. I doubt XP had that much market penetration in business after ~2 years either. If MS left Vista around as the newest OS for several years it would probably have more, as XP does now. I'd say the larger failure is that consumers were making buying decisions on computers based on which one they could get with XP.I'd guess the automatic window resizing can probably be disabled (I like my windows the size I set them, thank you very much) but how about adding text labels back onto the taskbar icons and not merging them together? If I have multiple Firefox windows open, there is probably a reason for it and I don't want to keep having them merged.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
Also, with this pinned icon being the taskbar icon thing, how do I launch a new window of whatever program that is? Firefox again, for example, will clicking it allow me to launch a new window? Or would I have to maximize a current window and then use the menu to launch a new window?JonnyBlaze - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
left click and drag up or shift clickJarredWalton - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
The task bar can be set to several options. The default is "Always combine, hide labels". The second option is "Combine when taskbar is full" - that's the one I like, and you get text labels up to the point where the windows merge. The final option is "Never combine", which gives text labels and behaves in a WinXP manner.Earballs - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
Anyone get a display driver to install on a HD 4770 under W7 RC?Gary Key - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - link
9.5 in a couple of weeks.. could not get the 8.612 from yesterday to work right, it would load through the manual process, but performance was way off compared to Vista 64.