How to Make Windows Faster than Linux

TechSource ^ | 15 July 2010 | jun auza

[ShadowAce]

In terms of speed, we can't deny the fact that Linux has an edge over Windows. This is because Linux is more efficient in handling computer resources when compared to the more bloated Windows. Through this speed advantage, it has been utilized on mobile devices and desktop PCs with limited hardware capabilities. Compared with Windows, Linux desktop boots faster and applications open up quicker and run snappier inside it. Linux servers are favored against those running on Windows because aside from being fast, they are also reliable and secure. I can go on and on explaining about its quickness but since I'm here to teach you how to make Windows faster than Linux, I will now share with you these tips:

1. Defrag Windows disk drive 3X a day
Ask any PC expert and they will always tell you that to speed up Windows you have to defrag your hard disk as often as possible. So in order to make Windows really fast (faster than Linux), why not defrag your hard disk three times a day.

2. Remove anti-virus software
I know this will make Windows vulnerable to security threats such as viruses, spyware, trojans, fungus (sic), and worms. But since this is all about making Windows faster, we recommend that you remove your anti-virus software because it's a resource hog and it is one of the key reasons why your desktop is running slow.

3. Disable Automatic Updates
This is another bad idea in terms of security, but disabling automatic updates can help Windows gain some speed. Running automatic updates slows down your system as it uses computer resources to constantly check for updates like security patches. The system also regularly (more regular than normal) checks and hunts down those who are using pirated copies of Windows.

4. Upgrade RAM
Like a good old tech adviser, I encourage you to upgrade or increase your RAM to accommodate the needs of Vista or Windows 7. There's no way that you can beat a Linux desktop using just 1GB of RAM.

5. Buy a new CPU
Buy a new CPU, make it Quad Core Extreme or better. That will surely beat the s%!t out of any Linux distro running on Pentium 3.

6. Downgrade to Windows 95
If you can't afford to buy a new CPU or upgrade your RAM, find a copy of Windows 95 (preferably genuine) and install it. Your Windows desktop will now be faster than any Linux distro made from 2007 onwards.

7. Wait for Windows 9

Windows 8 might be released next year but I urge you to wait for Windows 9 as it will surely become the greatest, most secure, and fastest operating system in the history of computing. It will be virus-free, anti-virus-free, and Windows-Genuine-Advantage-Notification-free. -Those are all according to Steve Ballmer.

I know that this article is part joke, part real, but I hope you all enjoyed reading this crap stuff :-)

[ShadowAce]

I honestly do not know the answer to your question. I'm not intimately familiar with IE8, as I use firefox.

I don't think it could hurt, though.

dayglored may be able to answer your question better than I can.

[fretzer]

The laptop (Thinkpad T61) currently has 3GB, 2.4GHz CoreDuo. It’s set up for triple boot linux/vista/xp but it spends most of the time in Gentoo linux. I’ve assigned 1.5GB to one of the VMs and 512MB to the other. I have a 20GB disk and 10GB virtual disk assigned respectively. Both are running XP SP3. I usually don’t run the VMs simultaneously. The CPUs idle at around 4%. There’s very little paging unless I’m doing something very memory intensive such as a large graphics model of some sort. In that case a physical machine is more appropriate but for general every day use, the VMs work great. I’ve also virtualized two domain controllers on another linux server. The VMs are running Server 2003 Enterprise.

[markman46]

OH wow, Ok, I am running PCLinuxos with 4 Gb ram, I run win7 on the vm and gave it 2 gbs ram, I am thinking of getting Mythtv up and running on a different machine and running win home server on a vm

[dayglored]

>> Question? While online I receive the Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. Is it worth it?

> I honestly do not know the answer to your question. I'm not intimately familiar with IE8, as I use firefox. I don't think it could hurt, though. dayglored may be able to answer your question better than I can.

Thanks for the referral, ShadowAce.

IE8 is a considerable improvement over IE7 (which itself was a vast improvement over IE6 for other reasons, mainly security). I consider it worth upgrading to IE8 primarily because it has a much higher degree of compatibility with standards.

It's more secure than IE7, without becoming dysfunctional about it.

It has a "compatibility mode" which makes it render more like IE6/7 for those pages where coders unwisely used Microsoft's incompatible features (and therefore I call it "incompatibility mode").

Overall I consider it a win, and recommend it if you use Internet Explorer.

Now, all the above aside, I must confess that I dislike IE (all versions), strongly prefer Firefox (which I use almost exclusively on Windows, Mac OS-X and Linux), and I only use IE under duress (e.g. MSDN downloads and other MS pages that require ActiveX). And I think it's wonderful that on Win7 they no longer bring up IE for Windows Updates (at least, not explicitly).