Windows 8 beats Windows 7 in most performance tests

While there is a lot of debate about the Metro user interface that Microsoft has created for Windows 8, it seems that in terms of sheer performance, the new version of the Windows OS is better overall than the current version, Windows 7.

That's the conclusion of a new report on PCWorld.com. Its PCWorld Labs division recently ran a number of tests on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. It included a test using its own proprietary benchmark software WorldBench 7.

Both Windows 8 and Windows 7 were installed on a PC with the same hardware specifications. It included an 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5-2500K processor with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 1 TB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card.
1187158-worldbench7-11338877.png

You can read more here ...
 

Of course I feel Windows 8 more responsive, it boot faster. But when I'm using applications I don't notice any difference.

I found the article a little bit misleading and they use a fresh Windows 8 install, but no mention of a fresh Windows 7 install
"We loaded the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 on the system, and compared our results with the numbers we already had for the same system running Windows 7."


here the original article

Windows 8 Preview Beats Windows 7 in Most Performance Tests | PCWorld


in 2 important tests they show 7 been faster, so the question is, in real world when you make some productivity work, do you really see a difference ? , I don't think so

1187158-office20productivity-11338860.png


1187158-content20creation-11338858.png


Their boot time was made with opsolite mecanical drives, who still use them in a home desktop ? it's SSD time , in an office, well, they let the pc run 24/7 or they just boot them in the morning the time they prepare their coffee.
 

My Computer

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    Windows 8 enterprise x64
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    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
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    Gskill 4x4 GB
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    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
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    Corsair AX 1200
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    TT Mozart TX
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    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Umm ...


Their boot time was made with opsolite mecanical drives, who still use them in a home desktop ?

I do.
I not spending stupid amounts of money, to buy something with a minuscule storage capacity.

IMO, these spectacular boot times rate a "Meh!" :sleepy:

On my PC (W8 vs W7):
  • DP boots ~9 seconds faster.
  • CP boots ~3 seconds faster.
That's ~20 seconds faster than XP though.
 
Last edited:

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    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
While there is a lot of debate about the Metro user interface that Microsoft has created for Windows 8, it seems that in terms of sheer performance, the new version of the Windows OS is better overall than the current version, Windows 7.



That's the conclusion of a new report on PCWorld.com. Its PCWorld Labs division recently ran a number of tests on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. It included a test using its own proprietary benchmark software WorldBench 7.

Both Windows 8 and Windows 7 were installed on a PC with the same hardware specifications. It included an 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5-2500K processor with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 1 TB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card.
You can read more here ...

What a way to present numbers. It looks twice as fast in the graph, but really only .14 percent point. Looks deliberate to me :(
 

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    xp, vista, 7, 8dp, ubuntu, osx
I do.
I not spending stupid amounts of money, to buy something with a minuscule storage capacity.

IMO, these spectacular boot times rate a "Meh!"

On my PC (W8 vs W7):
  • DP boots ~9 seconds faster.
  • CP boots ~3 seconds faster.
That's ~20 seconds faster than XP though.

You should give a try to SSD, the difference between a SSD and a Mechanical drive is far behind the 20 seconds speed gain you have between your 8 and XP, it's not only boot time, everything is more responsive, a Crucial 64 gb is plenty for the OS and quite few applications and it's around $ 100. I see no use to upgrade from Windows 7 to 8 on a mechanical drive to gain speed, better spend the money wisely on a SSD
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 enterprise x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
:)Look at WEI for my SSD boot drive 8.2! I know WEI isn't a true benchmark but my overall score of 7.3 is quite satisfying!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self built
    CPU
    i5-2500K
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77
    Memory
    16Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD HD5700
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HPLP2475w, AOC
    Hard Drives
    SATA 3 SSD, SATA 2 5 drives total 6Tb
I need more capacity, not speed

You should give a try to SSD, the difference between a SSD and a Mechanical drive is far behind the 20 seconds speed gain you have between your 8 and XP, it's not only boot time, everything is more responsive, a Crucial 64 gb is plenty for the OS and quite few applications and it's around $ 100.

I can get 1 TB to 2 TB for that sort of money.

I've got 4.5 TB in my PC and it's not enough (I've also got 3.5 TB in external HDDs). :eek:

I see no use to upgrade from Windows 7 to 8 on a mechanical drive to gain speed, ...

Agreed.
 

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    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
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    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
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    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
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    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
Lehnerus, I've got over 6Tb !:confused: Size isn't everything though. Tool for the job and all that. An SSD for the OS and applications will pay dividends in overall performance as you see in my WEI scores. Money is tight all round of course so you takes your choice...
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Win 8 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self built
    CPU
    i5-2500K
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77
    Memory
    16Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD HD5700
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HPLP2475w, AOC
    Hard Drives
    SATA 3 SSD, SATA 2 5 drives total 6Tb
The bottleneck in my machine is the graphics card.

WEI (2012-03-24).png
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
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    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
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    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
Mine too, but I'm not into games so my Photoshop and Lightroom get on fine with a middling graphics card. Your hard-drive is a poor score though compared to the CPU & RAM. Is it setup right?
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Win 8 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self built
    CPU
    i5-2500K
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77
    Memory
    16Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD HD5700
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HPLP2475w, AOC
    Hard Drives
    SATA 3 SSD, SATA 2 5 drives total 6Tb

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 enterprise x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Put Win7 and Win8 on the same SSD and you will hardly notice any performance gain. The choice for people that are still on spinners will be to buy an SSD for Win7 or a Win8 license. I know how I would go.
 

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    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Old HDD

Mine too, but I'm not into games so my Photoshop and Lightroom get on fine with a middling graphics card. Your hard-drive is a poor score though compared to the CPU & RAM. Is it setup right?

My HDDs are set to IDE mode, since it seems to be "impossible" to install AHCI drivers in XP (after the OS has been installed).
My OS HDD is from 2009, so it has a lower SATA tranfer rate than my other drives (which are newer).

An SSD would probably be handy, for running all of the different VMs that my course requires.
I'd need a larger capacity than 60 GB though.

if you don't play games your graphic card is not that bad..

It works OK for the games I play. ;)
 

My Computer

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    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
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    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
The bottleneck in my machine is the graphics card.

if you don't play games your graphic card is not that bad..
I think there's a slight glitch with the WEI in Windows 8. I have a 2.6 for the same category. In 7, I had a 5.5 I believe. But that might be due to the drivers. Also, I seem to notice that if your video card's DirectX version isn't the native new version, such as a video card built for DirectX 11 in Windows 7, you'll get a MUCH higher score for the Aero category. If you have DirectX 10 or 9, you get a much lower score than the rest of your system. I bet it will be lower in 8 since the new DirectX version is 11.1....
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
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    ASUS
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    AMD FX 8320
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    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
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    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
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    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
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    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
My HDDs are set to IDE mode, since it seems to be "impossible" to install AHCI drivers in XP (after the OS has been installed).

Edit the registry to enable the AHCI driver first, then reboot to bios and set AHCI there:


  1. Exit all Windows-based programs.
  2. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
  3. Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
  4. In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
  5. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
  6. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.


If you dual boot (or more) - you should probably do this in each OS before the bios change. Once all registries are set, go to bios, change to AHCI and they all will boot in AHCI mode.
 

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    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
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    300W generic
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    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
Hi there
even on a humble netbook the SSD performance just about blew everything else away -- but it also got 7.7 (max 7.9) on W7 which for a tiny aspire one Netbook can't be complained at -- using a SAMSUNG SSD.

Performance of W8 just feels snappier -- but remember it's probably a bit stripped down compared to the full release when it appears.

Also as is usual in system software development updated releases are usually more optimised as developers can improve inefficient code.

I'm talking here about System or Basis type Software -- not the inevitable BLOAT that goes with a lot of APPLICATION software when a newer release appears -- classical example of that is NERO morphed from being perhaps the "Industry Standard" for CD / DVD burning but by the time it had reached Version 9 it was so riddled with all sorts of stuff hardly anybody ever uses and increased in size so much -- people just said forget it. However even Nero has seen the error of its ways and introduced a reasonable "Lite Version" which does what we all got the original Software for in the first place. - I'm not anti progress but loading products with extra useless junk is NOT a good business or Technical idea.

I think any of you installing an SSD for the OS drive (they ARE affordable now) will be very pleasantly surprised whatever OS you are using.

I've long mentioned in posts on these Forums that slow Disk speed was often a far more hindrance to most people's Computing experience rather than the lack of suitable processing power.

Your average laptop contains for more Horsepower than those mega IBM mainframes of the late 70's early 80's !!!!!.

For around 90% of people even an I5 processor is overkill to say nothing of an I7 -

If you have a decent amount of RAM (4 - 8 GB) and an SSD and almost ANY laptop will give you mega performance no matter what you are running -- note dedicated gamers etc different considerations -- I'm addressing my remarks to the typical users out there.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    1 X LG 40 inch TV
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    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Well say Jimbo, mechanical hard drive have been the bottleneck of PC since years.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8 enterprise x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Thanks GMan

Moved to PM
 
Last edited:

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    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
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    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
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    Tower
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    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
    CPU
    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
    Memory
    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS AGP HD 3850 Turbo Ice-Q
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer x223w
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Black 1 TB Sata II, WD 400 GB Sata I, WD 120 GB Sata I
    PSU
    300W generic
    Case
    Cybertron
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keyboard 200, Dell RT7D20
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
OK ...

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Last edited:

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  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
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