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Windows 10 is silly fast, even when compared to Yosemite

MartinAppleGuy

MartinAppleGuy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 27, 2013
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Just installed Windows 10 on my 21.5" iMac (HDD based, no SSD). It flies like a rocket, everything is literately instant; from opening apps to general actions. I'm not even running on an SSD Mac, and this feels faster on my HDD than Yosemite does on an SSD Macbook!

I upgraded from 8.1, and this feels a lot faster than 8.1 as well. Does El Cap feel more like Windows 10 in terms of a responsiveness standpoint? Because Windows 10 is just silly fast and I would say that it feels more responsive than Yosemite.
 
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I agree. The gap between Windows and OSX is getting smaller. It's not totally frustrating to use Windows with W10. This is going to be a problem for Apple in terms of hardware because there are PC companies putting out superior machines than Macs (ex: Dell XPS 13 9343 vs. MacBook Air or Razer Blade vs. MacBook Pro).
 
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Things are flying on my SP3, its very fast. I have LR installed on the SP3, I think if I have time, I'll see how using that app is under windows 10
 
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It's crazy fast and looks better on a Mac than on a Dell or HP. It makes Yosemite and El Cap look plain and dull.

OSX El Cap/Yosemite boot in 11 seconds on SATA3.
Win10 boots in 9 seconds on SATA2.

Apple really needs to integrate Siri and make the Dock more modern, not just an app launcher. On the surface OSX still operates like the year is 2001 despite all the improvements under the hood.
 
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Is it any faster than 8.1. I think 8.1 was also really quick. MS did a lot to make it require less and less resources. They had to make it run well on underpowered tablets and weak cheapo notebooks. Apple never had that pressure with OSX. OSX has only grown hungrier, I hope El Capitan reverses that trend and becomes a good release like snow leopard was.

I think it is also strang why Apple never bothered to integrate Siri on Macs. Not that I would use it much but those who use it on the phone might on the Mac. It seems like a no brainer to include it on Macs as well.
 
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I am very impressed. I installed it on my SP2, which I never used because I never got along with Windows 8.1, and now I am seriously thinking about switching over to Windows after 10 years of almost exclusive OSX use.
Everything is fast, the interface is pretty, system/app integration is getting pretty good, OneDrive seems to be a good alternative to iCloud... the only problem is the poor DPI management, I find it ridiculous. No problems when I hook the SP2 to an external monitor, but everything looks so tiny on the 10.6" screen...
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
It's crazy fast and looks better on a Mac than on a Dell or HP. It makes Yosemite and El Cap look plain and dull.

OSX El Cap/Yosemite boot in 11 seconds on SATA3.
Win10 boots in 9 seconds on SATA2.

Apple really needs to integrate Siri and make the Dock more modern, not just an app launcher. On the surface OSX still operates like the year is 2001 despite all the improvements under the hood.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, (please could somebody correct me if I'm wrong), the quick boot speed that also came from Windows 8 is because Windows goes into an extended hibernate-type mode when shutting down, rather than completely shutting down as Windows 7 did. Occasionally this caused issues wherein the CPU uptime in Task Manager would show to be a number of days even when having just shut down. This can be resolved by disabling fast boot in powercfg.cpl >choose what the power button does> change settings that are currently unavailable.

I'd be interested to see if there's a similar sort of thing in Windows 10 to cause the quick boot.

I've also heard that Windows 10 utilises more RAM than Windows 8. This is hopefully a good sign, as the main cause in my experience for slow performance on Windows 8 is simply 100% disk usage - the curse of not having an SSD. If Windows 10 uses more RAM to prevent writing to disk as much then this'll also have a very positive impact on the speed of the OS.

Overall I'm very impressed with Windows 10, and although I personally prefer OS X for many reasons, they're really bridging the gap in performance. There's now comparatively very little reason for a new computer user to pay the Apple premium.
 
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After installing Windows 10 on my ancient Thinkpad with Intel X3100 graphics, it runs loops around Win7 and Yosemite on my 2010 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM... my 2010 I mainly boot back to Mavericks due to the snappier/responsive factor, Yosemite is a lagfest for day-to-day work.

I'm not a fan of Microsoft after Ballmer sunk Windows with 8, this giant leap of old hardware running faster is mind blowing as in the past you had to throw your PC out the window to enjoy the next generation of Windows... I can't even get Lubuntu/LXDE spin of Fedora to run as fast as Win10 :eek:
 
Both operating systems work very similar, so saying that Windows 10 works differently than Windows 7 is not accurate. OS X also works similar to how it worked ten years ago. This is not a bad thing. Operating systems evolve with time. I am glad that Windows 10 is working better than Windows 8.1, but this is not enough for me. I hate the way the Windows task bar works, especially the grouping of windows. I also find OS X apps to be more elegant. After all these years, nothing has actually changed.
Windows and Android are similar and of course they will always have the biggest market share. OS X and iOS will always feel different..
 
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I totally agree with OP and other posters' sentiments. I hate to admit this but Apple really has to step up their game :(

Cortana is also pretty helpful: I right-clicked a tracking number on Amazon and clicked the "Cortana" button on the drop down selection and a Cortana sidebar came up with full detailed status on my shipment.

The only big complaint I have is that Bootcamp always runs crazy hot on a Mac... and that's not even Microsoft's problem.
 
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KingArthurVI said:
I totally agree with OP and other posters' sentiments. I hate to admit this but Apple really has to step up their game
Click to expand...
I hope they (apple) do. I loved windows 7, that was up until now the best windows OS I used. Windows 8 was a train wreck, fixed partially in 8.1 (and more so thanks to utilities to bring it closer to win 7). Looks like MS is back on track.
 
MartinAppleGuy said:
Yea, I see it being the next XP ;)
Click to expand...

I don't think Microsoft is staying on the major 3-year cycle anymore. Aren't they moving to a steady stream of smaller updates like OS X? "Windows 10" may be here to stay for awhile

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I updated my W8.1 VM in Fusion 7 and I have to say it's just as fast as Yosemite at basic tasks! :eek: Even with 2GB of RAM and 2 cores! I also love some of the design choice and the accent color customization that will forever be absent from OS X. It is, by far, my favorite version of Windows yet.

Now that I've used OS X, I wouldn't' want to switch back (at least, not now), but had I never owned a Mac, Windows 10 would keep me from switching. Assuming it proves resistant to the many issues that has plagued Windows for years.
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@maflynn

If you use LR on W10, let me know what you think. I'll be curious how it compares to OS X. LR 6 (CC) is already a noticeable improvement over LR 5, at least for me.
 
Windows 10 blazes on my 2008 rubbish spare Acer laptop. Runs better than Yosemite on a 2014 Mac with a Harddrive (Mac Mini, iMac). Apple should get its act together and speed things up, especially the hopeless boot time.
 
I am installing Windows 10 on my Surface 3 (non-Pro) right now. It will be interesting to see whether Windows 10 can make this US$ 499 tablet/laptop blazing fast. If that happens, well, then I think Apple should be even more concerned about the shrinking iPad sales...
 
Gav2k said:
Come back in a month or so and let me know if it still flys along. Fresh installs are always fast and that effect soon wears off
Click to expand...

I just did a fresh install of yosemite and windows 8.1 bootcamp a few days ago, yosemite is on ssd and 8.1 is on the stock 500gb spinner. Yosemite was absolutely horrible on the spinner, it's a whole new ballgame on ssd but windows is as quick on the spinner as yosemite is on the ssd. Hopefully tomorrow i will upgrade to 10, if its faster than 8.1 and i like it i may dump osx and put 10 on the ssd. If windows is this fast on a spinner it should blaze on ssd.​
 
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Yep same here. I have a late 2013 rMBP 13" with the SSD. Yosemite is Ok but app loads takes ages. I then bootcamped and installed W10 with a fresh install. In comparison Windows 10 absolutely flies and everything is instant. I am really impressed and seriously considering jumping over permanently. Well done Microsoft you have done a great job.
 
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