Performance
Windows 7 feels faster than Windows XP and Vista, but it turns out that's not always the case--sometimes, it's the slowest out of the three operating systems. CNET Labs tested four 32-bit Windows operating systems: Windows 7 RTM build 7600, Windows 7 Release Candidate build 7100, Windows Vista with Service Pack 2, and Windows XP SP3, all on an Inspiron Desktop 530 Mini Tower running an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4500 at 2.20 GHz, with a 128MB NVIDIA 8300 GS graphics card, 4GB of RAM, and two 320GB SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.

Microsoft Office Performance (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)

571

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)

600

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)

684

Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)

752

Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)

673

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

483

iTunes encoding (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)

199

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)

199

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)

187

Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)

188

Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)

189

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

187

Boot time (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)

60

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)

50.3

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)

41.25

Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)

44.81

Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)

40.16

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

40.03

Shutdown time (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)

5.68

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)

5.32

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)

5.1

Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)

6.2

Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)

5.69

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

29.9

Cinebench
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Windows Vista SP2 (64 bit)

4,813

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (64 bit)

4,822

Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 (32 bit)

4,213

Windows 7 RC Build 7100(32 bit)

4,184

Windows Vista SP2 (32 bit)

4,174

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

4,217

As you can see in the chart, we found that Windows 7 RTM was the fastest to shutdown, and was tied with XP for iTunes encoding. However, it was slower than XP and Vista for both booting up cold by a bit more than 1 second, and slower than either of its predecessors in its Microsoft Office performance. After having used Windows 7 beta, RC, and now the RTM for more than six months combined, it still feels faster for us when launching programs, opening the control panel, and dragging icons, files, and folders around than XP. That's not to denigrate the value of the benchmarks, but keep in mind that the perception and reality might differ based on hardware and usage.