Comparison of Windows Vista and Windows XP
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This page is a comparison of Windows Vista and Windows XP. Windows XP and Windows Vista differ considerably in regards to their security architecture, networking technologies, management and administration, shell and user interface, and mobile computing. Windows XP has suffered criticism for security problems and issues with performance. Vista has received criticism for issues with performance and product activation. Another common criticism of Vista concerns the integration of new forms of DRM into the operating system, and User Account Control (UAC) security technology.[citation needed]
Compatibility
Windows Vista faces backward compatibility problems with many of the games and utility programs that work in Windows XP. As of July 2007, there were about 2,000 applications that specifically carried the 'Vista Compatibility Logo',[1] although the majority of applications without the logo will run without any problems. This number is low compared to the number of programs that can currently [when?] work under XP, either natively or in simulation modality.[citation needed]
Performance
Initial performance tests have demonstrated that Windows XP outperforms Vista in several productivity areas.[2][3] File copy operations are speculated to be one area where Vista performs better than XP.[clarification needed] In a test run by CRN Test Center, a 1.25 GB file was copied from a network share to each desktop. For XP, it took 2 minutes and 54 seconds, for Vista with SP1 it took 2 minutes and 29 seconds.[citation needed] The Vista implementation of the file copy is arguably[who?] more complete and correct as the file does not register as being transferred until it has completely transferred; in Windows XP, the file completed dialogue box is displayed prior to the file actually finishing its copy or transfer, with the file completing after the dialogue is displayed. This can cause an issue if the storage device is ejected prior to the file being successfully transferred or copied in Windows XP due to the dialogue box's premature prompt.[citation needed]
Another test was performed by Tom's Hardware in January 2007.[4] Applications such as Unreal Tournament 2004 and the graphics benchmarking suite SPECviewperf 9.03 suffered heavily from the lack of support for the OpenGL graphics library under Vista. They reached the conclusion that Windows Vista clearly is not a great new performer when it comes to executing single applications at maximum speed. On the other hand, they did not find evidence that Windows Vista's Desktop Window Manager (DWM) consumes more energy than Windows XP's window manager. All of the tests were performed on a computer with an 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor, 2× 1024 MB DDR2-800 RAM, HIS Radeon X1900XTX IceQ3 graphics card, 150 GB Western Digital WD1500ADFD hard drive and a Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 motherboard.
Scientific paper about performance evaluation of recent Windows operating system performance concludes that Windows Vista doesn't provide a better overall performance on the high-end computer system compared to Windows XP. Some performance improvements can be seen in memory management and graphics display, but other parts of OS have equal or lower performance than Windows XP. On the low-end computer system, Windows XP outperforms Windows Vista in most tested areas. Windows OS network performance depends on the packet size and used protocol. However, in general, Windows Vista compared to Windows XP shows better network performance particularly for the medium-sized packets.[5]
Security
None
| Feature | Windows XP | Windows Vista | Windows 7 | Windows 8 | Windows 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Defender | Available as a free download[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes (added antivirus capabilities, available in older versions as the Microsoft Security Essentials download) | Yes (added antivirus capabilities, available in older versions as the Microsoft Security Essentials download) |
| Windows Firewall | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Security Center | Yes (starting w/ SP2) | Yes | Yes (replaced by Action Center) | Yes (replaced by Action Center) | Yes (replaced by Security and Maintenance) |
| BitLocker Drive Encryption | Only viewing contents | Yes (Enterprise and Ultimate only) | Yes (Enterprise and Ultimate only) | Yes (Pro and Enterprise only) | Yes |
| Parental controls | Some (Internet Explorer allows parental control of web browsing) | Yes | Yes | Yes (replaced by Family Safety) | Yes (replaced by Family Safety) |
| User Account Control | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data Execution Prevention | Yes (starting w/ SP2) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Keylogger | No | No | No | Yes (starting with Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Store) | Yes |
| Private data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (offline only) | No |
Shell and user interface
Visual styles
Luna is the default visual style in Windows XP. It is available in three color schemes: Blue (default), Olive Green, and Silver. Windows XP Media Center Edition comes with Royale as the default theme.
In most editions of Windows Vista, the default theme is Windows Aero. Aero offers translucent window effects, as well as live thumbnails, animated transitions and Flip 3D. However, it requires a compatible graphics card, with a WDDM driver, DirectX 9 support and 32-bit color; otherwise, Windows Vista is displayed using the "Windows Vista Basic" visual style.
References
- ^ Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta White Paper, Windows Vista News
- ^ XP outperforms Vista in benchmark test, CNET
- ^ XP outperforms Vista in benchmark test, ChannelWeb
- ^ Windows XP vs. Vista: The Benchmark Rundown : Is Windows Vista Faster Than XP?, Tom's Hardware
- ^ Martinovic, Goran; Balen, Josip; Čukić, Bojan, "Performance Evaluation of Recent Windows Operating Systems", Journal of universal computer science. 18 (2012), 2; 218-263
- ^ Windows Defender, Microsoft