{"id":1838,"date":"2008-12-14T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-14T23:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838"},"modified":"2008-12-17T15:46:42","modified_gmt":"2008-12-17T15:46:42","slug":"windows-vista-sp2-beta-vs-vista-sp1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/windows-vista-sp2-beta-vs-vista-sp1\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows Vista SP2 Beta vs Vista SP1:Battle of the Service Packs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/excerpt.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1985\" title=\"excerpt\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/excerpt.png?resize=500%2C200\" alt=\"excerpt\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/excerpt.png?resize=500%2C200 500w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/excerpt-300x120.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Introduction <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Microsoft\u2019s latest Operating System (OS) for PCs, Windows Vista, has not been received warmly by PC owners. Announced on July 22 2005, it was released on January 30, 2007 worldwide. This was 5 years after Microsoft\u2019s previous OS, Windows XP, was released. Vista was seen as a bloated, resource-hungry OS with numerous hardware incompatibilities and borked drivers which was slower than XP. Since then,\u00a0there has been a wave upon wave of updates and fixes by Microsoft trying to make Vista popular and better than any OS it has released before.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Microsoft released <\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Service Pack 1 <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">(SP1) for Vista on February 4, 2008. This contained Hardware Ecosystem Support and Enhancements, Application Compatibility Improvements, Reliability Improvements, Performance and Power Consumption Improvements, Security Improvements and Support for New Technologies and Standards. This was a big step for Vista, as now Vista looked like the OS that Microsoft intended it to be.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Microsoft plans on releasing Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Vista. The first beta of this new Service Pack was made available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP) from December 4, 2008. You can download this beta from <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/windows\/dd262148.aspx\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/windows\/dd262148.aspx', 'here']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> depending on your version of Windows. <\/span><em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Note that Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 will share a single service pack binary.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">I \u00a0have been using Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition for the last 8 months after upgrading from XP. I am fully satisfied with this OS. I like the look and feel so much, that I can never think of going back to Windows XP as my main operating system for everyday use. Naturally when Microsoft made this beta available, curiosity took the better of me and I decided to investigate to see if the performance could be even <\/span><\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">better<\/span><\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Some of the notable changes in Vista SP2 include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless, which contains support for Bluetooth v2.1. Bluetooth v2.1 is the most recent specification for Bluetooth wireless technology and Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Improved performance for Wi-Fi connection after resuming from sleep mode. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">New capabilities to Direct X Graphic display reliability. The graphics experience has been greatly improved for users, such as gamers, running applications that require a lot of graphics processing. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Updates to the RSS feeds sidebar with improved performance and responsiveness. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Improved audio and video performance for streaming high definition content. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Ability to record data to Blu-Ray media. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches (currently available for SP1 systems as a standalone update) <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Complete information about SP2 can be <\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/library\/dd335032.aspx\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/library\/dd335032.aspx', 'here']);\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1972 alignright\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/systemspecs-png.png\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" style=\"display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;\" title=\"System-Specs\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/systemspecs-thumb-png.png?resize=643%2C643\" border=\"0\" alt=\"System-Specs\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP1 was a clean installation. No updates were installed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 beta was installed after installing Vista SP1. No further updates were installed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms';\"><!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Disk Performance<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hdtune.com\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.hdtune.com\/', 'HD Tune Pro 3.10']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">HD Tune Pro 3.10<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff99;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Read Test<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hdtunereadvistasp1-jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px\" title=\"HD-Tune-Read-Vista-SP1\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hdtunereadvistasp1-thumb-jpg.jpg?resize=501%2C425\" border=\"0\" alt=\"HD-Tune-Read-Vista-SP1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 Beta<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hdtunereadvistasp2beta-jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px\" title=\"HD-Tune-Read-Vista-SP2-Beta\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hdtunereadvistasp2beta-thumb-jpg.jpg?resize=502%2C433\" border=\"0\" alt=\"HD-Tune-Read-Vista-SP2-Beta\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff99;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Write Test<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1848\" title=\"hd-tune-write-vista-sp1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-write-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=508%2C438\" alt=\"hd-tune-write-vista-sp1\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-write-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=508%2C438 565w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-write-vista-sp1-300x259.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 Beta<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1849\" title=\"hd-tune-write-vista-sp2-beta\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-write-vista-sp2-beta.jpg?resize=510%2C443\" alt=\"hd-tune-write-vista-sp2-beta\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">In this benchmark, both of the OSes are pretty much even.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets move on to our next benchmark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">HD Tune Pro File Benchmark<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This file benchmark measures the performance for reading and writing files to the selected hard disk partition with different block sizes ranging from 0.5 KB to 8192 KB (x-axis). The length of the test files can be set. For accurate results a large size is recommended. If the file length is too small, the hard disk may be able to cache the entire file. In that case the cache speed will be measured instead of the hard disk throughput.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1851\" title=\"hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp1\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=568%2C494\" alt=\"hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp1\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=568%2C494 568w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp1-300x260.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 Beta<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1852\" title=\"hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp2-beta\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp2-beta.jpg?resize=565%2C487\" alt=\"hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp2-beta\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp2-beta.jpg?resize=565%2C487 565w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hd-tune-file-benchmark-vista-sp2-beta-300x258.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Here is where Vista SP2 Beta shows performance improvements. The read and write speeds of the file are higher than Vista SP1 in most of the \u00a0block sizes. The read and write speeds for 16KB blocks is increased by about 25MB\/s on Vista SP2 Beta. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets move on to our next benchmark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.techpowerup.com\/downloads\/1137\/ATTO_Disk_Benchmark_v2.34.html\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.techpowerup.com\/downloads\/1137\/ATTO_Disk_Benchmark_v2.34.html', 'ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.34']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.34<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1854\" title=\"atto-vista-sp1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/atto-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=400%2C509\" alt=\"atto-vista-sp1\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/atto-vista-sp1.jpg?resize=400%2C509 556w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/atto-vista-sp1-235x300.jpg 235w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 Beta<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1855\" title=\"atto-vista-sp2-beta\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/atto-vista-sp2-beta.jpg?resize=400%2C498\" alt=\"atto-vista-sp2-beta\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">As in the last benchmark, this benchmark also shows an increase in the disk performance with Vista SP2 Beta.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Copying Tests<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">All the tests were done 3 times and results were averaged and rounded off to nearest whole number.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The percent increases in performance is shown in the graphs as percent. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Increases in synthetic benchmarks is one thing, but increase in real world performance is what matters most. To see if there were any increases in real world performance, we formed our own custom test. The idea behind these tests is to emulate a real world usage, where the user is likely to notice an increase in performance and in the everyday tasks that a user does.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Test 1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">&#8211; We copied a folder of 8096 Wallpapers from one SATA hard drive to another SATA drive and measured the time it took with a stop watch.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1863\" title=\"copying-sata-to-sata\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-sata.png?resize=469%2C279\" alt=\"copying-sata-to-sata\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-sata.png?resize=469%2C279 469w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-sata-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This test shows a minor increase in copying performance, which can be considered within the margin of error. It is nothing to get too excited about here.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Test 2<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> &#8211; Our second copying test involves the same wallpaper folder from one SATA hard drive to external hard drive through a firewire connection.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1862\" title=\"copying-sata-to-firewire\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-firewire.png?resize=467%2C280\" alt=\"copying-sata-to-firewire\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-firewire.png?resize=467%2C280 467w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-sata-to-firewire-300x179.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 467px) 100vw, 467px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">WOW, this test shows a 20% improvement. Vista SP2 Beta is faster by 18 seconds at copying to a firewire drive.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Test 3<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> &#8211; Our third test is a measure of copying and compression performance. In this test, the same wallpaper folder was compressed with 7-Zip 4.62 and the 7z file was made on the other SATA drive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1861\" title=\"copying-and-compressing-sata-to-sata\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-and-compressing-sata-to-sata.png?resize=468%2C273\" alt=\"copying-and-compressing-sata-to-sata\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-and-compressing-sata-to-sata.png?resize=468%2C273 468w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/copying-and-compressing-sata-to-sata-300x175.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This test also shows an increase in performance with Vista SP2 Beta, as the previous tests have shown. Vista SP2 Beta is faster by 30 seconds at copying and compressing at the same time. It looks like compression performance has improved. We will verify this by Winrar&#8217;s Benchark later in this review.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=7\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Boot Up <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This test measures the time in seconds required for the system to boot up. The time was recorded with a stopwatch from the point power button is pressed to the time when the desktop first appears. This test was done 3 times and results were averaged and rounded off to nearest whole number.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1966\" title=\"boot-up\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/boot-up.png?resize=480%2C300\" alt=\"boot-up\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/boot-up.png?resize=480%2C300 480w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/boot-up-300x187.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 Beta ends up about 3 seconds slower here. Lets hope Microsoft makes the finished SP2 boot faster than SP1 as one thing that everybody hates, is having to sit there looking at the screen go through the boot up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=6\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/products\/pcmark05\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/products\/pcmark05\/', 'PCMark 05 1.2.0']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">PCMark 05 1.2.0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms';\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">PCMark<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> is a series of computer benchmark tools developed by Futuremark. The tools are designed to test the performance of the user&#8217;s CPU and read\/write speeds of RAM and hard drives.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This benchmark performs a set of tests and gives a score called PCMarks at the end. The Basic version was used for this test.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1867\" title=\"pcmark-05\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/pcmark-05.png?resize=332%2C79\" alt=\"pcmark-05\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/pcmark-05.png?resize=332%2C79 332w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/pcmark-05-300x71.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Windows Vista SP2 Beta shows a minor decrease in performance here. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.custompc.co.uk\/benchmarks\/how-to-enter.html\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.custompc.co.uk\/benchmarks\/how-to-enter.html', 'CustomPC Benchmarks 2007']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">CustomPC Benchmarks 2007<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">These benchmarks use widely available open-source applications to carry out the tasks that most of us perform on a regular basis. There are three tests, each of which measure different aspects of a PC&#8217;s performance. These tests are NOT synthetic benchmarks, but instead they use real world scenarios to test the performance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The tests are: <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">GIMP Image Editing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">H.264 Video Encoding<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Multitasking<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1868\" title=\"cpc-2007\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpc-2007.png?resize=618%2C413\" alt=\"cpc-2007\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpc-2007.png?resize=618%2C413 618w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpc-2007-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This test doesn&#8217;t show much difference between the two OSes. Vista SP2 beta leads in Image Editing and Video Encoding, but loses in multitasking test. Overall Vista SP2 Beta is slower by 6 points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=7\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><!--nextpage--><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Audio Encoding<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">For our Audio encoding tests we used the <em>Gladiator<\/em> Soundtrack (Awesome movie btw!) . We converted the audio tracks to wav files on our hard drive and did the encoding tests with that. There were 17 wav files, with a total size of 622MB.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The encoding was carried out with <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foobar2000.org\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.foobar2000.org\/', 'Foobar']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Foobar<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> music player v 0.9.6. Foobar was chosen for this purpose because this software can use all the available CPU cores in the system to do the conversion. It does this by converting each song file on an available core. Thus all the four cores were used on our Q9450 each time we did the conversion. The theory behind this is that if the CPU is loaded is 100% during each conversion on each OS, it reduces the error that may be induced due to fluctuation in load by software that is not multi-threaded. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Here&#8217;s how the taskbar CPU usage looks like while the encoding takes place. Note the 100% usage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1910\" title=\"cpu-usage-foobar\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpu-usage-foobar.png?resize=322%2C98\" alt=\"cpu-usage-foobar\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpu-usage-foobar.png?resize=322%2C98 322w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cpu-usage-foobar-300x91.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">MP3 Conversion<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">We employed the services of the most popular mp3 encoder, LAME. LAME v 3.98.2 was used for this test. The time was measured by the encoding timer on the Foobar conversion window.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The encoder seetings were V0 Best Quality ( ~ 245Kbps). Fast Mode (-vbr -new) was used.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1911\" title=\"mp3-encoding\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/mp3-encoding.png?resize=505%2C357\" alt=\"mp3-encoding\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/mp3-encoding.png?resize=505%2C357 505w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/mp3-encoding-300x212.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Both the OSes end up having the same encoding time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">AAC Conversion<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Advanced Audio Coding<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> (<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">AAC<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">)\u00a0is a standardized,\u00a0lossy\u00a0compression\u00a0and\u00a0encoding\u00a0scheme for\u00a0digital audio.\u00a0Designed to be the successor of the\u00a0MP3\u00a0format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at many\u00a0bit rates. iTunes AAC is the most popular usage of this format.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">For this test we used the freely available <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nero.com\/eng\/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.nero.com\/eng\/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php', 'Nero AAC']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Nero AAC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> encoder v 1.3.3.0. The settings for this encoder were VBR Q1.00 Best Quality (~400Kbps).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1912\" title=\"aac-encoding\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/aac-encoding.png?resize=517%2C355\" alt=\"aac-encoding\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/aac-encoding.png?resize=517%2C355 517w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/aac-encoding-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 Beta is faster by 11% in this test. Another victory for Vista SP2 Beta.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=8\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=10\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets move on to some 3D synthetic benchmarks.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/benchmarks\/3dmark06\/introduction\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/benchmarks\/3dmark06\/introduction\/', '3DMARK 06 v1.1.0 Basic']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">3DMARK 06 v1.1.0 Basic<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1906\" title=\"3dmark-06\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-06.png?resize=464%2C273\" alt=\"3dmark-06\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-06.png?resize=464%2C273 464w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-06-300x176.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 Beta leads in this test with over 100 3DMark points more than Vista SP1. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/benchmarks\/3dmarkvantage\/introduction\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.futuremark.com\/benchmarks\/3dmarkvantage\/introduction\/', '3DMARK Vantage']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">3DMARK Vantage<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1909\" title=\"3dmark-vantage\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-vantage.png?resize=464%2C272\" alt=\"3dmark-vantage\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-vantage.png?resize=464%2C272 464w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/3dmark-vantage-300x175.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 Beta again leads in this test, but not by much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=11\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><!--nextpage--><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets explore some real world gaming results. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1913\" title=\"30153_crysiswarheadboxcrop\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/30153_crysiswarheadboxcrop.jpg?resize=300%2C279\" alt=\"30153_crysiswarheadboxcrop\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/30153_crysiswarheadboxcrop.jpg?resize=300%2C279 300w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/30153_crysiswarheadboxcrop.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets face it, if anybody wants to know if Vista SP2 Beta is worth it, they will look at this game. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><em>Crysis<\/em> series is the most beautiful set of games to grace the PC screens to date and they can bring the highest end of PCs to their knees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><em>Crysis Warhead<\/em>, developed by Crytek, is an expansion to the original <em>Crysis. Crysis Warhead<\/em> follows\u00a0Sergeant Michael &#8220;Psycho&#8221; Sykes, a Non-Playable Character (NPC) from the original <\/span><em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Crysis<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">, as he faces his own trials and challenges on the other side of the island during the time period of the first game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.incrysis.com\/forums\/viewtopic.php?id=24465\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.incrysis.com\/forums\/viewtopic.php?id=24465', 'Framebuffer Crysis Warhead Benchmark tool']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Framebuffer Crysis Warhead Benchmark tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> was used for the purpose of this test. &#8220;Ambush&#8221; timedemo was selected from this tool. This timedemo represents real-world gameplay as the player runs through the night across a falling aircraft, walks through water, and throws grenades blowing up a hut. This timedemo also features some burning huts. As the timedemo ends, the player passes through some foliage as the night changes to day. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Tests were run at 1280&#215;1024 resolution with 2x Anti-Aliasing(AA) enabled at Enthusiast DX10 (DX10 E), Gamer DX10 (DX10 G), Enthusiast DX9 (DX9 E), Gamer DX9 (DX9 G) settings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1961\" title=\"crysis-warhead\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/crysis-warhead.png?resize=720%2C445\" alt=\"crysis-warhead\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/crysis-warhead.png?resize=720%2C445 721w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/crysis-warhead-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 721px) 100vw, 721px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">This was the strangest benchmark. FPS did not even budge in some tests between the two OSes. It was like watching a mirror image of performance on Vista SP1.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1915\" title=\"codcoveryg3\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/codcoveryg3.jpg?resize=480%2C359\" alt=\"codcoveryg3\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/codcoveryg3.jpg?resize=480%2C359 480w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/codcoveryg3-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.callofduty.com\/CoDMW\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.callofduty.com\/CoDMW', 'Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> was one of the most successful games of 2007.\u00a0It was the top-selling game worldwide for 2007, selling over seven million copies by January 2008.\u00a0It uses a proprietary game engine that includes features such as true world-dynamic lightning, HDR lighting effects, dynamics shadows, and depth of field.\u00a0It features a fictional story set in the near-future. The most well received part of the game is its multiplayer modes, where you earn experience points for kills and completing certain tasks online. These experience points unlock certain abilities and new and more powerful guns which can tip the balance in your favor in online matches.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">For testing this game, we recorded a timedemo on the &#8220;Creek&#8221; map while playing online. The demo was played back at normal speed with the demo command from the console and the results were recorded by FRAPS. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">All settings were at their maximum; 1280&#215;1024 resolution was used with 4xAA and max AF from in-game. The FPS Cap was removed for this test and all the latest patches were applied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1916\" title=\"cod4\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cod4.png?resize=559%2C381\" alt=\"cod4\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cod4.png?resize=559%2C381 559w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/cod4-300x204.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 beta wins hands-down here. Its faster by 18% and 14% in minimum and average FPS, which are the most important.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=10\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=12\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><!--nextpage--><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1933\" title=\"company-of-heroes-logo\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/company-of-heroes-logo.jpg?resize=490%2C199\" alt=\"company-of-heroes-logo\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/company-of-heroes-logo.jpg?resize=490%2C199 490w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/company-of-heroes-logo-300x121.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Company of Heroes<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> is a\u00a0real-time strategy game (RTS)\u00a0developed by\u00a0Relic Entertainment.\u00a0<em>Company of Heroes<\/em> is set during\u00a0World War II\u00a0where the player commands two U.S. military units during the\u00a0Battle of Normandy\u00a0and the Allied capture of France. It makes use of the &#8220;Essence Engine&#8221;, developed in-house by Relic. This engine makes use of special graphical effects, including\u00a0high dynamic range\u00a0lighting, dynamic lighting &amp; shadows, advanced\u00a0shader\u00a0effects and\u00a0normal mapping.\u00a0<em>Company of Heroes<\/em> also utilizes the\u00a0Havok\u00a0physics engine. This game features beautiful graphics which can be quite taxing on graphic cards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The in-game performance benchmark was used for this test and the results are taken from the results reported by this benchmark at the end. All the latest patches were applied. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1932\" title=\"coh\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/coh.png?resize=469%2C336\" alt=\"coh\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/coh.png?resize=469%2C336 469w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/coh-300x214.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Vista SP2 Beta shows a 2% increase in performance &#8211; not much but none the less, a step in the right direction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1934\" title=\"ut3_logo2\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3_logo2.jpg?resize=395%2C323\" alt=\"ut3_logo2\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3_logo2.jpg?resize=395%2C323 395w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3_logo2-300x245.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 395px) 100vw, 395px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Unreal Tournament series have been one of the most popular multiplayer games on PCO.\u00a0<em>Unreal Tournament 3<\/em> is the fourth game in the Unreal Tournament series and the eighth Unreal game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">The benchmarking was done with the help of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hocbench.com\/ut3.php\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.hocbench.com\/ut3.php', 'HardwareOC Unreal Tournament 3 Benchmark v1.3']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">HardwareOC Unreal Tournament 3 Benchmark v1.3<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"> on the Corruption Map. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">All settings were at maximum. 16AF was used. Resolution was 1280&#215;1024. The latest patch was applied. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1936\" title=\"ut3\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3.png?resize=476%2C334\" alt=\"ut3\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3.png?resize=476%2C334 476w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/ut3-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Another game where Vista SP2 Beta shows considerable gains in performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=11\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=13\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1972\" title=\"next-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/next-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"next-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Let me start of by saying, Microsoft is doing everything it can to improve the image of Windows Vista. The recent <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mojaveexperiment.com\/html\/?fbid=OQHG_Tlu-4g#\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.mojaveexperiment.com\/html\/?fbid=OQHG_Tlu-4g#', '&#8220;Mojave Experiment']);\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">&#8220;Mojave Experiment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">&#8221; is an example of that. But there is no point in advertising a product, if it fails to perform, is there?\u00a0 Microsoft has to improve performance of Vista and exploit the hidden potential in this OS. Only then can\u00a0Microsoft improve the image of Vista. With SP2, Microsoft looks to be doing exactly that. Mind you, this is only the beta of SP2 and already we are seeing some considerable gains over Vista SP1. We can&#8217;t wait to see what the finished product looks like and what it brings to the table. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Lets recap the tests with the winning OS being represented in red. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1967 alignnone\" title=\"recap-table\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/recap-table.png?resize=720%2C737\" alt=\"recap-table\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/recap-table.png?resize=720%2C737 744w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/recap-table-292x300.png 292w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; \">Judging from the above table, you can see that Vista SP2 Beta comes out on top more often. This is great news for Vista and Microsoft. All those who are thinking of skipping Vista altogether in favor of Windows 7 should at least give Vista a try. Lets hope the finished product brings even more gains to the table.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/viewtopic.php?f=56&amp;t=150\" target=\"_blank\">forums<\/a> to leave your comments on this article <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva;\">-Karan <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838&amp;page=12\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1974\" title=\"last-page\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/last-page.png?resize=126%2C95\" alt=\"last-page\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=1838\"><img decoding=\"async\" align=top title=\"Author: Karan\" src=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/excerpt.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7814,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}