Windows XP SP3 Adds 10% Performance Boost, Tests Show

Information Week ^ | May 12, 2008 | Paul McDougall

[Zakeet]

Researchers said Windows XP Service Pack 3 delivers a measurable performance boost when compared to Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

Windows XP runs some applications up to 10% faster with the latest service pack installed, a research firm has found.

"We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (v.3244) delivers a measurable performance boost to this aging desktop OS," wrote staff at exo.performance.network, in a blog post.

The researchers found that a PC loaded with Microsoft's XP SP3 completed the OfficeBench test suite in less than 50 seconds. A similarly configured system running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 took more than 50 seconds to complete the test suite -- which measures how quickly a computer can perform common tasks in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

"Since SP3 was supposed to be mostly a bug-fix/patch consolidation release ... the unexpected speed boost comes as a nice bonus," the researchers wrote.

They added that XP SP3's slick performance may lead some computer users to forego Windows Vista. Exo.performance.network found that, with the new service pack, XP is now two times faster than the newer Microsoft OS.

The tests were conducted late last year, on a pre-release build of XP SP3. So it's possible the final version is even faster.

It's not all four-star reviews for the service pack, however.

Within hours of its general release last week, Windows XP SP3 began drawing hundreds of complaints from users who claim the update is wreaking havoc on their PCs.

The problems with XP SP3, according to posters on Microsoft's Windows XP message board, range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.

[Obadiah]

The problems with XP SP3, according to posters on Microsoft's Windows XP message board, range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.

Ahhh...some things never change.

[ExTexasRedhead]

This thread didn’t mention that SP3 for XP is crashing a lot of computers and causing heartache. The automatic update on SP3 isn’t due until June. I’ve been advised to not download it until the “bugs” have been cleaned up.

[stratboy]

Meanwhile, Vista is still a bug ridden, no driver available OS. After the Vista debacle, I switched to OS X and never looked back.

[El Gran Salseron]

“The problems with XP SP3, according to posters on Microsoft’s Windows XP message board, range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.”

Just a guess. The systems with these issues already had problems and/or the users are inexperienced and/or chronic complainers.

They would complain if they were hung with a brand new rope.

I have seen marked improvement with SP3 and that is especially true for IE.

[DeLaVerdad]

Past experience with the chaos of their SPs dictates that I wait for a few more successful UATs before proceeding.

[Abathar]

Took my brothers computer down for the count, had to eventually just format and re-install. I will wait for a while before I install it.

[RachelFaith]

Gee...

Non of my Mac updates have caused me to crash...

= )

[CedarDave]

Tech PING!!

[ShadowAce]

[aft_lizard]

Hey unfair, swordmaker should be posting this, he after all was more than happy enough to post negative articles about sp3 he should be posting positive articles about it too, in all fairness of course.

[Clock King]

Worked fine on my system, and I did notice a slight speed boost. But I have newer HW.

[aft_lizard]

Don’t be scared, its a small percentage of computers that contain a CPU errata that cause the crash.

[aft_lizard]

Really? I have found every driver possible for my components and havent had an issue yet. In fact yet to crash. Now OS X on the hand I hear has all kinds of problems like it makes people smell their own farts because they suddenly found they love their own smell.

[JoeSixPack1]

Installed fine, runs great on my desktop and laptop for over a week now.

No problems at all.

[aft_lizard]

I wish you macheads would stop crashing these threads, it really is quite disturbing how religious you are over a computer.

[CarrotAndStick]

None of my Mac updates have caused me to crash...

The official, self-updating XP service pack isn't out until early July.

Oh, and by the way:

 

Mac Update Brings Trouble for Some Users

The large bundle of security updates issued by Apple last week is causing headaches for some users who have had trouble powering up their systems after installing the patches.

According to numerous posts on the Mac OS X support forums, the latest Apple patch batch -- which fixed at least 43 security holes, including a dozen in Apple's QuickTime media player -- may also have introduced some problems. In many cases, it appears the problems were the result of some sort of clash with Adobe's Version Cue software.

No word from Apple or Adobe what may be going on here, but if you experienced troubles with the update and are running this program, booting into "safe mode" and removing Version Cue from the startup items folder seemed to work for some users.

 

The update also appeared to cause boot problems for people who don't use the Adobe software. The folks over at MacFixIt have more information on this problem, and even have a helpful tutorial on what to do when a Mac fails to boot after a security update.

If all else fails, you can't get the help you need from Apple's security forum, and if your system is still under warranty, you could just give Apple's support line a ring at 800-275-2273.

 

May 16, 2006

[Cicero]

After my desktop crashed, with a bad hard drive, I bought a new laptop, and decided to try Vista. It’s working very well. I also upgraded the memory chips on my older laptop, to as much as it would take with its older mother board—from 1 gig to 2 gigs. That helped. But the Vista computer is actually faster, since the chips are faster. In particular, IE7 loads much faster and works better.

Something similar to this problem happened with the recent release of Vista SP1. There were reboot problems on some computers, but if you waited until they finally posted it on the Update site in April, it works just fine. So I’ll wait a little longer for the XP SP3 update.

[WVKayaker]

You are a sad case. Is that the most you can muster? SM is the Mac guy, and posts items putting Macs into a positive light. That usually means that PC's and Windoze will be talked down.

Come into the light, and learn something!

[JoeSixPack1]

The official, self-updating XP service pack isn't out until early July.

Its nice to think that, but i went to MS update site for 2nd laptop yesterday and it smoothly dl'd and installed SP3.

So much for waiting for July.

[holden]

10% performance boost?

You mean it's only 90% the performance hog of the previous update, don't you?

With XP's fourth iteration they're finally getting some real performance profiling tools aimed at the weak points in the OS and have cut some time for their best code toads and plied 'em with nothing but Jolt, Mountain Dew Red and Starbuck's Deep Vibrant Blend, since stock options aren't nearly what they used to be.

HF

[Sprite518]

I upgraded and have no problems. I think I notice a slight improvement on performance.

[aft_lizard]

Pathetic? He is the one who was more than happy to post negative articles on XP and PC’s in general he should be more than willing to come and post or reply on a positive article. Now that is pathetic, kind of like the cult of Mac.

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2002/12/56674

“The Mac and its fans constitute the equivalent of a religion,” Belk wrote in the video’s abstract. “This religion is based on an origin myth for Apple Computer, heroic and savior legends surrounding its co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs, the devout faith of its follower congregation, their belief in the righteousness of the Macintosh, the existence of one or more Satanic opponents, Mac believers proselytizing and converting nonbelievers, and the hope among cult members that salvation can be achieved by transcending corporate capitalism.”

[kingu]

Just a guess. The systems with these issues already had problems and/or the users are inexperienced and/or chronic complainers.

Actually, it affects most owners of AMD processor machines with an improperly loaded OEM Xp kit, most especially from HP, as it has Intel and AMD drivers loaded at the same time. To install the service pack at this moment takes some basic computer knowledge and effort, which most of the users you cite wouldn't expend at this time.

Likely these issues will be corrected before the pushed out roll out of sp3 is done next month.

[CarrotAndStick]

Did it do the update all by itself?

The MS update site gives options for installing critical and optional updates.

As far as I’m aware, SP3 is still an optional update, and not an automatic update [not sure if that has changed as yet].

The problems were encountered by HP systems with AMD cores.

These are the sort of problems you can expect with hardware diversity, unlike in a completely-Apple built Mac. But yea, if you’re going to use a computer for merely checking email and browsing the internet, a Mac might serve you better.

[kingu]

They added that XP SP3's slick performance may lead some computer users to forego Windows Vista. Exo.performance.network found that, with the new service pack, XP is now two times faster than the newer Microsoft OS.

Wha...? An OS upgrade that cuts performance in half? I wonder why there's not widespread business adoption of this wonder?

It is nice to see more and more companies offering XP instead of Vista on new hardware.

[antiRepublicrat]

Finally Microsoft takes another tip from Apple: Make the software run faster, not slower. I await all the bugs getting worked out so I can upgrade the VM XP image on the Mac and the wife’s XP machine with this.

[js1138]

Perhaps Swordmaker is too busy ignoring the class action suit recently settled by Apple for sneaking substandard monitors into Macbooks.

[antiRepublicrat]

[Obadiah]

Ditto.

[JoeSixPack1]

Did it do the update all by itself?

YES. I was pleasantly surprised.

I will add it was a Toshiba, m55, about 4 years old. I had time to format and reinstall the OS, which i had wanted to do for a month or more as it was getting a bit clogged, finished and then went straight to MS Update. After doing its checks and validation it said "SP3". I hit the button.

What did tick me off was after it nailed SP3 and everything was fine and dandy, i took another trip to updates and it tossed me another 6 critical.

Oh well, its humming now, all three computers are doing fine with sp3.

[Swordmaker]

Re: posting about Windows XP SP3.

Had I seen it, I would have posted it.

The one “negative” article I posted, I posted to alert people with AMD processors there might be a problem and to backup before updating.

[Andonius_99]

OS X on the hand I hear has all kinds of problems like it makes people smell their own farts because they suddenly found they love their own smell.

[ncpatriot]

How do I prevent my new DELL XPS from automatically downloading SP3 in June.

[Swordmaker]

Re: Mac updates causing crashes.

In all fairness, the update to Leopard caused PowerPC Macs with the haxie APE installed to fail on reboot.

[untrained skeptic]

The problems with XP SP3, according to posters on Microsoft's Windows XP message board, range from spontaneous reboots to outright system crashes.

99% of these problems are likely the result of third party drivers that don't conform to the way Microsoft wants or expects you to write drivers.

Some of Microsoft's interfaces make it cumbersome to follow their driver model if you need to do something more complicated or simply different than what they expect for your hardware to do.

If you use legacy functions, or access structures that Microsoft says are supposed to be considered opaque, there is a decent chance that sooner or later things will break when Microsoft changes the things you aren't supposed to be using.

The best option would of course be to not use things Microsoft doesn't want you to use. In reality, sometimes your project requirements just don't allow you to follow Microsoft's model.

I still spend far less time dealing with problems caused by Microsoft changing code they weren't expecting me to use, than with Linux developers changing code I was supposed to use.

Things change. Things break. You fix them, and hopefully make your product better in the process.

Give Microsoft and third party developers a little time, and they will work out most all of the problems. If you can't afford to have such problems, wait until the service pack has been out for a while before installing it.

Ahhh...some things never change.

And they likely never will. Major changes almost always result in some unintended consequences.

[WVKayaker]

“The Mac and its fans constitute the equivalent of a religion,” Belk wrote in the video’s abstract. “This religion is based on an origin myth for Apple Computer, heroic and savior legends surrounding its co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs, the devout faith of its follower congregation, their belief in the righteousness of the Macintosh, the existence of one or more Satanic opponents, Mac believers proselytizing and converting nonbelievers, and the hope among cult members that salvation can be achieved by transcending corporate capitalism.”

I bought my first Mac in 1984, because I didn't want to learn c>. I liked a mouse driven, icon based system. It was easy to use, and made me efficient. I have bought lots of other Macs, since then. I currently use a 2003 iMac here at home. I am buying a MacBook for the road. I currently also have a G4 Powerbook..

I have been forced to use Windoze machines at work. A tech guy is essential DAILY, and I don't exaggerate. I last called Apple in 1987! I usede my first one in 20 minutes, after setting it up, which took 10 minutes, due to their excellent icons on the cabinet. It took the PC world a few years to catch up to that.

The Mac and its fans constitute a bunch of folk who don't need to know anything about a computer, to use their computers. I never turn mine off!

[antiRepublicrat]

The Mac and its fans constitute the equivalent of a religion

I trashed Mac OS before OS X as a piece of antiquated junk under a pretty exterior, trashed the development of the PPC as it lagged behind x86, praised the architecture of the G5 but trashed IBM's inability/unwillingness to develop it further and get the heat down, and definitely trashed Apple's love for lawsuits and restrictive licenses.

Yet here I am, loving Leopard on an iMac and convincing people to switch. The reason is simple and atheistic: it is by far the best computer I've ever used. And not just that, it was a pleasant experience through entering the Apple store, purchasing, unpacking, setting it up and using it. This is a company that pays attention to every little detail of the entire experience to the point of being obsessive-compulsive, and I appreciate it.

[Obadiah]

I know you’re right, I just like tweaking the Evil Empire.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

A tech guy is essential DAILY, and I don't exaggerate.

If you're in need of a tech guy daily then there's a problem with the interface between the chair and the keyboard and I don't exaggerate.

[Izzy Dunne]

XP SP3 completed the OfficeBench test suite in less than 50 seconds. A similarly configured system running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 took more than 50 seconds to complete the test suite

So it goes from "more than 50 sec" to "less than 50 sec"...

Gollee, Gomer, I'm impressed.

I wonder why they didn't put any actual numbers in the article.

[for-q-clinton]

I still spend far less time dealing with problems caused by Microsoft changing code they weren't expecting me to use, than with Linux developers changing code I was supposed to use.

Funny line!

[Redleg Duke]

"I’ve been advised to not download it until the “bugs” have been cleaned up."

Those aren't "bugs", those are merely undocumented features provided free of charge! :-)

[JoeSixPack1]

Go to MS Update and turn OFF auto updates, OR

Set it to notify you before installing any updates.

Or adjust your MS Firewall settings.

[Swordmaker]

Re: monitor suit “settlement”

That’s because there has been no settlement on that case. Apple is fully confident they will win and are still advertising the monitors as capable of displaying “millions of colors.”

Why are these people complaining about Apple’s monitor capability which can actually display millions of colors with pixel level dithering technology? They didn’t file suit against all the PC monitor makers who advertised their 1024x768 pixel monitors were capable of displaying millions of colors when they actually could only display 786,432 pixels.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Interesting.....considering that bench-marking Vista and XP side by side puts XP in the lead, I wonder how much farther ahead it is now?

[Blood of Tyrants]

If the Microsoft developers REALLY cared, they could get rid of 50% of the code as being useless garbage that was bypassed years ago and REALLY speed up the system.

[JoeSixPack1]

..actually could only display 786,432 pixels.

And you care because you think you were deceived or because you are the only person on earth that can see beyond the scope of the human eye?

Or, like a friend who had a single bad pixel on his monitor went on a rampage at the customer service desk wanting a replaced monitor for his laptop in the next 5 mins or else??

[Mr. K]

This is how Microsoft works.

They don’t want anyone to use XP anymore, they want us all to buy Vista.

So they relase a ‘service pack’ that cripples your XP installation

Don’t believe they would do something like that? I know for a fact they have in the past- I caught them at it myself.

[WVKayaker]

...then there's a problem with the interface between the chair and the keyboard...

But, the amazing fact is that it only happens with Windoze! I first learned computers in 1966, in the Navy. I have a clue. The problem is mostly IE related, but it falls overinto everything else.

I am having a new web-based system built, with Xserve equipment from Apple. It will use Apache client ware. I won't pretend to know what my tech is doing, but it sure looks good, and will be more secure!

My people will all get MacBooks, with ATT connect cards. We can do business better, AND likely much MORE SECURELY, with less hassle!