Wiley 978-0-470-05368-3 Datasheet download pdf

Experiencing

the Windows

Experience Index

performance index by any other name would smell as sweet.

Microsoft refrains from calling the Windows Experience Index

(WEI) a “performance index,” but that’s precisely the function it

performs. You get one number, backed up by a small handful of ancillary

numbers, that together are supposed to tell you how well Vista performs

on a specific piece of hardware. Since the dawn of computer-dumb, peo-

ple have been trying to measure how fast a particular computer works

and report on the speed as a single, easy-to-understand number or index.

To date, nobody has succeeded. Vista’s no exception.

A small handful of developers inside Microsoft know precisely how Vista

calculates the Windows Experience Index.

None of them are talking.

A legion of hardware and software manufacturers are trying at this very

moment to hack, crack, reverse engineer, out-psych, and out-bamboozle

the Windows Experience Index.

Why?

Money.

For the first time in Windows’ long history, Microsoft has put its impri-

matur on a performance benchmark. Everybody and his brother wants to

beat the Windows Experience Index. Stakes are high. A chip manufacturer

that can eke out, say, a 5.7 rating instead of a paltry 5.4 can “prove” that

its hardware works faster, thus potentially selling zillions of additional

chips. Powerful incentive to jigger the results any way they can.

You can save yourself a heap of time and money if you understand the

inner workings of the Windows Experience Index — both its strengths

and its limitations. This Technique shows you the mechanics and the

dirty underbelly of the beast. At the end of this Technique, I reveal the

most important benchmark of all — one that Vista doesn’t even touch.

Technique

Save Time By

 Understanding what the

Windows Experience

Index says — and

doesn’t say

 Upgrading your PC in

ways that really help

 Not sweating the small

stuff

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COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

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Summary of Contents

Page 1 - COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

1Experiencingthe WindowsExperience IndexAperformance index by any other name would smell as sweet.Microsoft refrains from calling the Windows Experien

Page 2 - Analyzing Benchmarks

Technique 1: Experiencing the Windows Experience Index18tests, there are also zillions of Internet speed tests,each of which has its adherents and det

Page 3 - Calculating the WEI

Technique 1: Experiencing the Windows Experience Index10 If one of the components of your computerisn’t pulling its own weight, the benchmarkshould p

Page 4 - Breaking down components

Calculating the WEI11To see your computer’s Windows Experience Index,follow these steps:1.Choose Start➪Control Panel. Click the Systemand Maintenance

Page 5

Technique 1: Experiencing the Windows Experience Index12processor-intensive tests involving data compres-sion and decompression, encryption and decryp

Page 6 - Analyzing the WEI

Calculating the WEI13TABLE 1-1: WEI CAPS FOR THE MEMORY (RAM) COMPONENTIf You Have This Much Memory (excluding memory reserved Your Memory Scorefor g

Page 7

Technique 1: Experiencing the Windows Experience Index14Analyzing the WEIWhen you look behind the Windows ExperienceIndex component scores, several id

Page 8 - Digging Deeper

Analyzing the WEI15 The disk component score is a joke. Drives are sosophisticated now that any attempt to benchmarktheir real-world performance is j

Page 9

Technique 1: Experiencing the Windows Experience Index161.Choose Start, right-click Computer, and thenchoose Properties.Vista shows you the View Basic

Page 10 - Benchmark Score

Digging Deeper17The More Details about My Computer dialog boxshows you a few more details about your WEIscores, including the type of processor and vi

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Wiley 978-0-470-05368-3 Datasheet

Browse online or download Datasheet for Software manuals Wiley 978-0-470-05368-3. Wiley Windows Vista Timesaving Techniques For Dummies User Manual

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