Microsoft hopes to tackle an age-old problem with the next version of Windows: How to keep PCs running like new.
With Vista, the new client version of Windows due next year, Microsoft is addressing what's become a sad truth for most people: PCs run more slowly over time.
Vista will automatically de-fragment hard disks, make better use of memory to more quickly load programs, and include a new performance control panel that will identify performance bottlenecks, according to the company.
The goal is to keep PCs running like new long after they're purchased. "Certainly a year after a user gets a Vista system, if they do the sort of standard things we encourage users to do (install Windows updates, etc.), it should run the same as when they initially got it, said Gabriel Aul, a group program manager in Microsoft's Windows division.
If your PC is like most, it was at its optimal performance the day you turned it on and has slowed down ever since. It's not your imagination, either, nor is it the phenomenon that occurs on crowded freeways in which it seems everyone else is going faster.
"The difference is dramatic, especially among people who have no idea what the gunk hazards are," said technology author Jeff Duntemann, who is the co-author of a book on the subject, "Degunking Windows."
Microsoft says there are several culprits for slow-running PCs. Programs and files that were once neatly arranged on a hard drive eventually get spliced up all over the place, increasing the time it takes to find and load information. In addition, each program that loads itself into the system tray adds its own speed penalty. Microsoft even has an article on its Web site outlining the problem.
A Vista-based PC might even be faster a few weeks after it's installed, thanks to one new feature called SuperFetch. SuperFetch basically studies the programs that an individual user frequently runs and loads them into memory automatically.
For example, if a user works with Outlook and PowerPoint every day, Windows Vista will try to load those applications at start-up, provided there is enough memory. However, if another user frequents Excel and Adobe Photoshop on their machine, then Windows will load those programs.
"That out-of-the-box experience really extends," Aul said. "You'll see the applications that you use just...feeling fast."
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