CNET compared the performance of Windows Vista Beta 2 and Windows XP Professional SP2 on a Pentium 4 3.2GHz with 1GB DDR2 memory clocked at 664MHz and an ATI Radeon X850XT.
There's been plenty of lively chatter lately about Microsoft Vista's hardware requirements, software compatibility issues, bugs, and more. Hey, it's a Microsoft operating system. And it's in beta--an easy target! (But try publicly poking holes in the Mac OS, and the hordes will come after you with torches and pitchforks.)
We've already seen that the current Vista beta is not very battery-friendly for laptops. Hopefully, the final version will have more robust power-management features. Otherwise, future Vista users are in for some boring cross-country flights. But this begs the question, how does Vista's performance hold up with regular applications? We're glad you asked!
