Windows 10 vs. Windows 8.1 vs. Windows 7 Performance

[Brink]

Three years ago we were benchmarking Microsoft's then latest operating system, Windows 8. At the time we were keen to make sure Windows 8 performed as well as Windows 7, which was a huge upgrade from 2006's Windows Vista.

In the end, we determined that Windows 8 was on par with 7 and at times a fraction faster, leading us to this conclusion in our performance review:

"Looking beyond benchmarks, Windows 8 appears more polished than Windows 7, even if you plan to live on the desktop and aren't too fond of the Start screen, general usage is smoother and appears to be faster on Windows 8, which I found most noticeable on our somewhat underpowered Athlon II X4 system. If anything, it's a great start. Now the Metro/Modern style will have to prove itself as a cross-platform OS that marries desktop, laptop and tablet PCs."
It's obvious now that the 'Metro' Start screen was an epic failure and in my opinion it was the only real issue with Windows 8, as I thoroughly enjoyed using the operating system with Classic Shell installed.

Fortunately, Microsoft learned from its mistakes and addressed some of Windows 8's shortcomings in Windows 10, which we believe is the best version yet, if only for its improved looks and functionality across devices and form factors.

After running the beta for months, I installed Windows 10 on launch day with the impression that it was relatively fast and stable, though it remained to be seen precisely how fast it was compared to Windows 8.1 and the beloved Windows 7.

That's what we plan to find out today as we test various aspects of the operating system including boot up and shutdown times, file copying, encoding, browsing, gaming and some synthetic benchmarks.

Test System Specs

All three operating systems were tested using a fresh install with all the updates applied and then our test software installed. The exact same hardware was used for each configuration with the only difference being the OS used.

• Intel Core i5-4670K (3.4GHz - 3.8GHz)
• Asrock Z97 Extreme6
• 8GB DDR3-2400 RAM
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
• Crucial MX200 1TB
• SilverStone Essential Gold 750w
• Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Article Index

1. Windows 10 Put to the Test, Benchmarked
2. Synthetic Benchmarks
3. Application Performance
4. Storage Performance
5. Encoding Performance
6. Gaming Performance
7. Faster, Slower, Better?

Read more: Windows 10 vs. Windows 8.1 vs. Windows 7 Performance - TechSpot

 

[Layback Bear]

Personally I don't think the differences in time really should be use to judge whether a operating system is the operating system one should use.

A few seconds one way or the other I can live with.

1. How does the operating system work under daily use?
2. Does the operating system have functions that you desire or need?
3. Does the operating system have visual appeal that you desire.
After all you are going to be staring at it for many hours a day.
4. Is your operating system secure and that includes secure from Microsoft sneaking and peaking?


Windows 10 because it is new is like any other new operating system
one will just have to try it and see if meets or exceeds what one desires and or needs.

 

[Indianatone]

The visual quality of the image is crisper on Windows 7 than on 8, 8.1 and 10. I have confirmed this all on the same hardware. Windows 7 text is by far sharper and to me the visual cues and looks of 7 are in every way superior to the later OS.
I like the look of AERO too and the glow effects and transparency. I am on my 2nd really (for me a non gamer) expensive video card with 4Gb GDR5 EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ 4GB GDDR5 PCI 3.0 Dual-Link Ready Graphics Cards 04G-P4-3967-KR
Amazon.com: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC ACX 2.0+ 2GB GDDR5 128bit, PCI-E 3.0 Dual-Link DVI-I, 3 x DP, HDMI, SLI, HDCP, G-SYNC Ready Graphics Cards 02G-P4-2966-KR: Computers & Accessories

That card pushes stuff around fast. If 10 had Windows 7 looks I would use it but not yet.
Windows 7 unfortunately is Microsoft's worst enemy as it is a good looking OS.

 

[ThrashZone]

Maybe just disable the lock screen in 10 with group policy and see what it does
Can't remember if 8 had a lock screen or not :/
I'm sure it would do the same thing = slow it way down.

Everyone keeps referring to wake from sleep and hibernation ?
Wake from sleep in 7 is as fast as either 8 or 10 so I don't see what that is about ? you move the mouse and the system wakes

Hibernation is not a necessary feature unless you're running off a battery so why is it such an important bench for a desktop unless there's a power outage if so hello APC

Snappy is only as snappy as the startup items fast start in 7 is harmless
I wish I could say the same for 8 and 10.

 

[Seffrid]

"you can feel free to upgrade and know you won't be sacrificing performance in the process."

It would seem that you can also know that you won't be gaining any significant performance either.

Wait and see, that would seem to be the best advice on upgrading to Windows 10, with even greater justification in holding back if you are currently using Windows 7 rather than 8 or 8.1.

 

[Layback Bear]

Sleep and hibernation to me is added B/S. So doing test using them is B/S of course this is my opinion.

As fast as Windows 7, 8, 10 boot their is no need for either of them.
Save your work and shutdown properly.
Boot your computer when you get in the mood or you need to.

Saving work, shutting down properly and then boot again is about 60 to 90 seconds. Who in the hell can't find 90 seconds in their lives.

 

[Boozad]

The visual quality of the image is crisper on Windows 7 than on 8, 8.1 and 10.

I can't tell any difference at all, they all look as sharp as each other to me on three systems.

Can't remember if 8 had a lock screen or not :/.

It does, as does 7.

"you can feel free to upgrade and know you won't be sacrificing performance in the process."

It would seem that you can also know that you won't be gaining any significant performance either.

So the statement is not false then? Pointless picking nits with it when there's nothing wrong with it. Have you not noticed any performance gain in W10?

 

[Seffrid]

"you can feel free to upgrade and know you won't be sacrificing performance in the process."

It would seem that you can also know that you won't be gaining any significant performance either.

So the statement is not false then? Pointless picking nits with it when there's nothing wrong with it. Have you not noticed any performance gain in W10?

I was referring to the conclusions in the review that seemed to suggest that improvements in performance would be coming in the future.

Generally the advice on a variety of sites seems to be that it is really only worth upgrading at the moment if you're running Windows 8 or 8.1 with Windows 7 users recommended to hold back at least for now.

So far as my own situation is concerned, I am following developments with interest but see no reason to upgrade from Windows 7, although I would in any event wait a few months for things to settle down before installing a new OS on my two machines.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Everyone keeps referring to wake from sleep and hibernation ?
Wake from sleep in 7 is as fast as either 8 or 10 so I don't see what that is about ? you move the mouse and the system wakes

Not on my PC.
I have to press the power button.

I cannot make the USB mouse and/or USB keyboard wake my PC.
In fact, I've never had a desktop system that would wake using USB mouse and/or USB keyboard, regardless of the BIOS and OS settings (my laptop will wake up if I scratch the scratchpad).

OTOH, PS/2 devices have always worked for me.

I'll be keeping W7 on my Desktop, but I might upgrade my laptop to W10.
W10 uses ~200 MB less RAM (in my testing) and my laptop only has 2 GB.

 

[ThrashZone]

Of course your correct hibernation requires the power button be pushed = my bad
A good reason I don't use it unless an emergency case because it gives a fault sense of the computers state

Hibernation gives the impression the computer is off
If a user doesn't use a password on wake anyone can continue if they press the power button

9 times out of 10 people will use a continuous screen saver slide show
The others I've seen usually leave the switch users login window open all the time.

Never have I seen anyone use hyper state on a desktop.
Nor have I personally used it
I prefer to startup fresh.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Of course your correct hibernation requires the power button be pushed = my bad
A good reason I don't use it unless an emergency case because it gives a fault sense of the computers state.

Hibernation does require the machine to be re-powered, but I meant Sleep (I never use Hibernation).

I suspect that some link needs to be connected on my motherboard.
The manual says nothing about it (or I can't find the relevant info).
With the PS/2 mouse connected, the PC power LED flashes and the mouse LED remains illuminated.
With the USB mouse connected, the PC power LED flashes, but the mouse LED turns off.

It's a minor annoyance as I have seen other systems (e.g. at TAFE) that will wake up if the mouse and/or keyboard are used.


As for boot times, I've noticed that modern operating systems boot fast if nothing is installed.

My W10 VM's boot time increased from ~20s to ~60s after I installed a couple of programs.
None of the programs added any startup items.

I noticed the same thing with my "real" Linux Mint OS
The increase wasn't as dramatic though (~20s to ~40s).

My "empty" W7 VMs boot up in ~25s.
My W7 VMs with software installed for my TAFE courses take ~90s to boot.