- Microsoft has appeared on the benefits of Windows 11 (again)
- States that Windows 11 PCs can be ‘up to 2.3x faster’ than Windows 10 machines
- However, this comparison executed operating systems in different hardware, and is very misleading as a result
He probably has not escaped his attention that Microsoft is busy trying to take people to change Windows 10 to Windows 11, with the oldest operating system that is approaching its end of life.
In a recent blog post (noticed by Tom’s Hardware), Microsoft has been exalting the virtues of Windows 11 (and Co -cilot+ PCs), with Yusuf Mehdi (which heads consumption marketing) that present us with a variety of reasons why the newest operating system is the place to be.
The publication touches the benefits of Windows 11, including accessibility characteristics, AI, safety and performance, and is the latest in what we are focusing here. Specifically, the following statement that Mehdi makes: “Windows 11 PCs are up to 2.3x faster than Windows 10 PCs.”
That statement comes with an attached footnote: a vital warning, in fact, to which I will return, but the broad suggestion here is very clear: Windows 11 is a lot Faster than Windows 10. But is that true or just to say? No, it is not; So we explore why and consider the ins and outs of what Microsoft is affirming here.
What Microsoft is claiming
Microsoft argues that Windows 11 is “faster and more efficient” and that compared to Windows 10 offers faster updates, faster awakening times (for laptops) and, in general, a better performance on the desk. Then comes the central statement that Windows 11 computers are “up to 2.3 times faster” than the oldest Windows 10 machines.
Observe the use of “older” there, and this is where the footnote comes into play. Scan that and will see that Microsoft says that this estimate is based on a geekbench 6 of multiple cores (CPU) reference, and that is all that they tell us in this publication.
However, we are presented with a URL at the end of the footnote, which is actually the source of this reference point, a variety of Windows 11 PC PC performance in the Microsoft Loarn portal.
Here we learn that these comparative tests were not executed on the same PC, but of different hardware. In summary, the PCs with Windows 10 that execute the geekbnch reference point were older machines with Intel Core 6th, 8th and 10th Gen processors, while Windows 11 devices used CPU Intel Core 12th and 13th-Gen. As Microsoft points out: “The performance will vary significantly according to the device and with the configuration, use and other factors.”
Why this is very misleading
Here is a big problem that is simple to see: those PCs much older (in some cases CPU of sixth generation) will clearly be much slower than a modern machine with an Intel 12 or 13th internal chip.
What Microsoft should have done is to execute the reference point of Windows 10 on a PC, then install Windows 11 in the same hardware and compare the results. That would be a level playing field: what we see here is not absolutely.
In summary, that claim “up to 2.3x faster” is very misleading, since it mainly shows the difference between the hardware components involved, not the software (the operating systems itself). That is why the performance gulf seems so large and that it rises to the eyebrows.
In addition, it is a weak argument to simply cite a single reference point (Geekbench) anyway. Preferably, we must have some averaged performance tests (or a complete set of them ideally). Otherwise, the suspicion is that the reference point in question has been selected to make marketing look as convincing as possible.
That is a relatively lower problem, of course, compared to the fundamental problem here of comparing the very different PCs that execute Windows 10 versus computers with Windows 11 installed.
Once, Microsoft could argue that this is only understood as an illustrative performance metric, and it does specify that Windows 11 PCs can be “even” more than double than Windows 10 machines, so technically that is true. However, in most cases, they will not be close to that; And as already noted, not having a comparison of apples performance to apples here only makes the statement so misleading.
What I am also unhappy is the way in which the note is written. It is elaborated so that even if the reader looks at it, and many will probably not, they will only think “Oh, it is Geekbench” and probably leaves it, perhaps not investigating the proportionate URL (with the real test details). In particular, that URL is not hyperlinks, so it is easy to lose, and it must really highlight and copy it to go to the Learn portal to see the story behind the comparison of the operating system. Everything feels a little smoke and spur, to say at least.
The verdict
Marketing is marketing, of course, and as the statement was technically noted: a Windows 11 PC, without a doubt, it can be more than double fast than a Windows 10 PC. Especially if that Windows 10 computer has been removed from its attic, the dust was removed and then executed a reference point that was subsequently compared with a relatively new Windows 11 PC.
Let’s go Microsoft, you can do it better than this. Frankly, the cunning form in which this particular part of Mehdi’s blog publication has been invented of despair in the effort to persuade people to update Windows 11.
What worsens this is that, anecdotally for me, Windows 11 in fact feels a little more agile than Windows 10 in general, daily performance (although I realize that it is something very subjective, and not everyone’s experience going for some of the complaints I see online).
In short, I think Microsoft has a point to show off here in terms of Windows 11 offer a bit Peppier’s performance and more receptive in some aspects, but has spoiled any of that positivity with an exaggerated marketing effort here.
