Windows 7 Slower?

There was a recent study done that showed that more than 80% of Windows 7 machines were maxing out available memory having no RAM for other tasks.  While it is much more slimmed down than the previous operating system, Vista, it’s taking quite a bit more resources than what Windows XP uses on a machine.

For some people this can be a huge problem.  If your computer is already using all the available RAM, this means that when you open a up another application that your computer will run extremely slow because there is no power there to actually efficiently open up the application.  It will seem that your new Windows 7 computer is slow.

There are a few options that you have as a user.  The first is to add more RAM to the machine.  This will let you have some extra space so that when you open up another application you will get the snappy performance that you expect out of a modern day computer.

If you don’t want to add more RAM, you still have some options.  The first is to shut off any unnecessary applications that are running.  Many times there will be applications running in the background.  If you go to the task manager, it will show you what is open and how much RAM each program is using.  Turn off the ones that you don’t need and are taking up your computer’s speed.

The second item to consider is to turn off unnecessary desktop effects.  While the themes and effects of Windows 7 look nice, they take up processing power and RAM.  Windows XP can be more efficient this way because it does not have “eye candy” and effects.  Turn these off on your machine if you want quicker speeds to run software and applications.  If it’s a choice between looking nicer or working faster, it’s obvious what most would rather have.