Benchmarks and comparisons, Windows 7 vs. Windows XP (64-bit), this is a pretty easy contest for me to call! Without diving into to much technical mumbo jumbo, we will simply bring up "resources"! I've been using Windows XP both (32-bit) and (64-bit) since the year 2002, with a slight break away while using Windows Vista (64-bit) back in 2009 for about a year. What made me switch back and dump Vista, even with it's (64-bit) architecture, the answer was resource management! On the same computer I'm using now, I had run Windows Vista (64-bit) and Windows XP (64-bit), lets see, my resource meter is only showing 12% of all my RAM being used running Windows XP as to maintain normal operations, and back in the day I can remember Vista using approx. 40% to 60% of my RAM just to maintain normal operations on this computer. Now recently I have dabbled with Windows 7 (64-bit) on a similar computer as to my own, yes, I have to admit that Microsoft is on the right track, for the resource meter on that computer only showed that Windows was using approx. 20% to 30% of the RAM just to maintain normal operations. Maybe with the up coming Windows 8 Operating System, Microsoft will pick up where they left off with Windows 7 and perhaps have an even better resource management system.
Personally I like the idea of having a lot of my resources free'd up and being able at a moments notice, blast open programs and applications with speed, not waiting around for Windows to decide to free up some resources when it decides to allow my request for service to go through.
And for some to say "Windows XP sucks" that's just not being fair! As far as the premise to this topic area, about the future of gaming and such, the logical choice would be for a person to choose a modern day Operating System if the DX-10 and DX-11 areas important. The best I got with my Windows XP (64-bit) is DX-9c, games like Call of Duty 1 through 3 will do just fine with that format, but with today's games, even I have to know when to say when, I would recommend modern vs. old when it comes to gaming. And for some around here to say that Microsoft has officially dropped support for Windows XP are totally wrong. For those of us who choose to stick with Windows XP (64-bit), and for those like me who purchased an enterprise business license for the operating system, we still get updates and future service packs, when available.
But in the end it simply boils down to one thing, "what your needs are"! Today we live in a time that there's just about an operating system out there for everyone. People who prefer the older stuff like me have the option of using system like Windows XP and or Windows 2000 Professional, which by the way 2000 Pro is still supported with updates with an enterprise business license. For those who want to using something a little bit more modern, but without being totally "cutting edge" they can choose to use something like Windows Vista (32-bit) or (64-bit). Those who want all the bells and whistles and eye candy, and who want the peace of mind knowing that anything they stick inside their computers will work, those people can choose something like Windows 7! Heck for people who want to break away from the death grip of Microsoft can choose a Linux based operating system. And for those who want to get even more radical than just straying away from Microsoft, those people can spend the coin and pop for a Apple computer and use an Apple based Operating System. It just boils down to what a person is looking to get out of their operating system, and more importantly, it comes down to what a person is going to do on their computers!
"The luxury of choice"!