The Windows 7 beta 1 has a new 'experience index/rating' that is quite different from the one we know from Vista. In contrast to the maximum score of 5.9 in Vista an index of 7.9 can be gained in Windows 7. It does make one wonder about the reasoning behind changing a 'standard'. Introducing a new Windows Experience Index that is different from the Vista one could prove to be quite controproductive in terms of making it easier for the customer to gage the power of their machines and choose the software they can run on it accordingly.

So what is behind this mysterious change in measuring performance? According to Microsoft the total score of the Windows Experience index (WEI) is based on the component which scores worst. The hardware test weighs the performances of the processor, the memory, the graphics in 2d and 3d and the primary hard disk. According to the software-giant stretching the score from 5.9 to 7.9 was done to enable changes in hardware to become more noticeable in the total WEI-score. In short hardware changes-upgrades are reflected in the new WEI in a different way - the WEI has become more sensitive but I am not sure it has become more specific as well. Microsoft felt that a new scoring system was needed because of recent new developments in hardware - like solid state drives, multi core cpus etc.

According to Microsoft a sub-score between 6.0 and 6.9 - for the graphics card - is needed for smooth and solid gaming on Windows 7. Graphics cards that will get these scores are DirectX 10 capable and will be able to get at least 40 fps at a 1280x1024 resolution. WEI-sub scores for graphics cards between 7.0 and 7.9 are only given when the same minimal of 40 fps is reached at higher resolution and the driver has to be WDDM 1.1 capable. In graphics cards with WDDM 1.0 compatible drivers only DirectX 9 performance will be measured resulting in a theoretical maximum WEI-sub score of 5.9.

The indexing of hard-disks and ssds was also explained. Some users have indicated that the scores for their hard-drives was far too low. According to Microsoft this is because of bad performance characteristics of specific drives, especially 1st generation SSDs are scoring low because of lengthy response times when the drive is accessed randomly. These drives will only get a WEI-sub score of 3.0 and lower.

According to Softpedia a maximum WEI-score of 7.9 on Windows 7 is only possible when the PC has an 'octocore-cpu', 8Gb of RAM, SSDS with super low latency and fast random access - not yet on the market, and finally a DirectX 10 capable graphics-card with WDDM 1.1 compatible drivers.

My system(s) won't get anywhere near such a score. My test-system scored a WEI of 4.3

Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl