MS, Intel Could Double Windows 7 Performance

A new report from a popular tech blog suggests that Windows 7 will have an enormously beneficial impact on several industries, but perhaps none more than PC hardware manufacturers, including AMD, Nvidia, and especially processor titan Intel.

According to a recent report from CNET News, Windows 7 "will be more than just a better interface." Instead, its very technical design will make chips from several popular hardware makers more efficient than current systems loaded with Windows XP or the much-maligned Vista.

Opportunities to Optimize Windows 7

The greatest beneficiary of Microsoft's new operating system (which hits October 22) might just be popular chip maker Intel. The latter company is working closely with Microsoft on chips that optimize Windows 7 performance -- this is the first time where PC manufacturers and Microsoft are working right alongside one another.

According to Intel Alliance Manager for Microsoft Joakim Lialias, Intel "saw unique opportunities to optimize Windows 7 for Intel processor technology." That could mean faster, more efficient machines, and very impressive graphics. (Source: cnet.com)

That's good news for Vista owners, myself included, who felt the graphical improvements offered by Vista were not worth the performance drawbacks.

Hyper-Threading to Double Performance

Many of the advancements involve multitasking technology based on a system that offers extra support for the Windows 7 scheduler for Intel Hyper-threading (HT).

This means that an operating system could use a single processor core as if it were two, essentially doubling the performance. Imagine a quad-core system with the power of eight cores! (Source: pcworld.com)

The multitasking improvements might not just improve actions while the user's system is up and running. In fact, Lialias hopes that Intel's work with Windows 7 will also improve boot and shutdown times significantly. "Our mutual goal was to provide the most responsive computer experience possible," he said.