Why Modern PCs May Feel More Sluggish

Software engineers have been debating whether today's operating systems are slower to respond than their predecessors. It led one site to experiment with running Windows XP on a new computer.

After some hassles of getting it going, it turned out that XP felt extremely fast to use, albeit with a serious risk of malware infection.

The debate started when Julio Merino put together "real-time videos" of an old machine running Windows NT 3.51 (a business version roughly equivalent to Windows 95 for consumers) and a modern machine running Windows 11. (Those of us of a certain age may have to reflect for a moment to fully appreciate that Windows NT 3.51 is almost thirty years old).

Lag Is Annoying

He noted that while modern machines and software are clearly more powerful, some basic functions are much slower these days. The big problem was with the response times for opening simple apps such as File Explorer, Paint and Notepad, with Windows 11 having a noticeable lag. (Source: jmmv.dev)

Merino was originally baffled given many computer advancements, most notably the switch from old-style moving-part drives to SSDs, has made many operations faster. He also rebutted some theories such as basic tasks being slower because the computer has to handle more pixels when displaying the relevant windows on modern, high-resolution screens.

He concluded its partly to do with the languages developers use to code applications and partly because apps have more code as they are designed to work the same way across different devices.

XP Feels Faster

The Register's Liam Proven then tested the arguments by installing Windows XP on several modern PCs that the site normally uses for testing new applications. He found the biggest challenge was locating and installing drivers for the various hardware components and peripherals, which he eventually managed with third-party tools Legacy Update and Snappy Driver Installer Origin.

He also found a browser (MyPal) and antivirus (Avast) that worked. Proven says that for most applications, using the Microsoft version wasn't viable, but third-party tools such as media player VLC often had a compatible version. He did find that Office 97 worked OK when many optional components were disabled.

Proven reports that using XP on the modern machines "felt not merely usable, but good: fast, responsive, and smooth, more so than any newer version." The experiment appeared to back up Merino's argument. (Source: theregister.com)

However, Proven did note that using XP as a main operating system on a computer connected to the Internet is pretty much insane as even with an antivirus tool in place, it's a ludicrous security risk.

What's Your Opinion?

Do you find opening applications and windows slower today than in the past? What do you think causes any slowdown? Do you find a couple of seconds delay on small regular tasks more frustrating than a big task (such as editing a video) taking several minutes longer?