Aero - Disable or keep?

**DaGeek** · 11-23-2009, 11:34 AM

What's the point of Aero? Would I notice big performance increases if I disabled it?

My specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo (@2.2GHz)
4 GB RAM
Geforce G210M

Cam42 · 11-23-2009, 12:00 PM

It might be a little faster.
Aero adds the transparent windows (which I find annoying), but it also adds flip 3D, taskbar peek, and a few other sorta-useful things.

OiBoyz · 11-23-2009, 12:25 PM

Vista? Aero is the only cool thing about Vista.

Cam42 · 11-23-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OiBoyz

Vista? Aero is the only cool thing about Vista.

The other cool thing is that it's not 10 years old, like XP is.

**slap_j** · 11-23-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

What's the point of Aero?

It's a GUI theme. So, mostly cosmetic.

Quote:

Would I notice big performance increases if I disabled it?

Not likely. Maybe a bit when you're doing graphic intensive stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OiBoyz

Vista? Aero is the only cool thing about Vista.

Aero is also on Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008, but I doubt that is what Paul is running).

**DaGeek** · 11-24-2009, 10:18 AM

I'm currently running Windows 7 Home Premium on my new PC (hurrah for upgrades finally). Thanks for the posts; I had no idea if it would help or not. I've got a little gadget on the desktop that tells me my RAM and Processor usage at any given time, and, when it's just on desktop, my RAM usage is over 30%, whereas my Processor usage is generally idling below 10%. How accurate that is, I dunno, but that seems like a lot of RAM. I've disabled a lot of useless background programs in Task Manager, but it still is higher than 30%. Due to Aero?

Cam42 · 11-24-2009, 10:21 AM

probably not. My RAM hovers aroud thirty to forty percent on XP, which has no Aero, so it's probably fine.

**DaGeek** · 11-24-2009, 10:25 AM

Well, with that being said, I'll probably just leave it where it is, then. It looks kinda spiffy. Gracias for the help!

**slap_j** · 11-24-2009, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

I've disabled a lot of useless background programs in Task Manager, but it still is higher than 30%. Due to Aero?

On a system like yours Aero is probably going to have a negligible effect. Open your task manager and click on the Processes tab. Look for dwm.exe. That is a program called Desktop Windows Manager which basically runs Aero. You can see it's memory usage.

bobthecockroach · 11-24-2009, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

What's the point of Aero? Would I notice big performance increases if I disabled it?

The only person who can answer this is you and the only way you can answer it is to test it.

See Eric Raymond's How To Ask Questions The Smart Way:

Q: "Can I convert an AcmeCorp document into a TeX file using the Bass-o-matic file converter?"
A: "Try it and see. If you did that, you'd (a) learn the answer, and (b) stop wasting my time."

OiBoyz · 11-24-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

The other cool thing is that it's not 10 years old, like XP is.

If an OS works, and my XP does, it's cool. I didn't upgrade to Vista because the only thing it had that was remotely interesting to me was Aero. But for the compatibility issues, instability issues etc. that wasn't worth it to me.

Windows 7, however? I'm thinking about it seriously. I want to wait a few months to let all the beta testers find the bugs, but I'm totally thinking about it. Might even upgrade to a whole new computer at the same time. Yup.

Cam42 · 11-24-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

If an OS works, and my XP does, it's cool.

So if 98 still worked?

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 11-24-2009, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

I'm currently running Windows 7 Home Premium on my new PC (hurrah for upgrades finally). Thanks for the posts; I had no idea if it would help or not. I've got a little gadget on the desktop that tells me my RAM and Processor usage at any given time, and, when it's just on desktop, my RAM usage is over 30%, whereas my Processor usage is generally idling below 10%. How accurate that is, I dunno, but that seems like a lot of RAM. I've disabled a lot of useless background programs in Task Manager, but it still is higher than 30%. Due to Aero?

Possibly, but if you are not actually running into situations where you are using all you got, I say keep it.

My PC has lower specs, and I don't find anything really slows me down.

My guess is, that if something is noticeably slowing you down, it is probably not aero. When I first installed 7, my graphics driver control panel was bringing things to its knees. If you have a big slowdown, I would check some other stuff first.

**DaGeek** · 11-24-2009, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

The only person who can answer this is you and the only way you can answer it is to test it.

See Eric Raymond's How To Ask Questions The Smart Way:

Q: "Can I convert an AcmeCorp document into a TeX file using the Bass-o-matic file converter?"
A: "Try it and see. If you did that, you'd (a) learn the answer, and (b) stop wasting my time."

Alright Mr. Smart-Aleck

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slap_j

On a system like yours Aero is probably going to have a negligible effect. Open your task manager and click on the Processes tab. Look for dwm.exe. That is a program called Desktop Windows Manager which basically runs Aero. You can see it's memory usage.

So that's what dwm.exe is. It's only taking about 12.6k at the moment, so not bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OiBoyz

If an OS works, and my XP does, it's cool. I didn't upgrade to Vista because the only thing it had that was remotely interesting to me was Aero. But for the compatibility issues, instability issues etc. that wasn't worth it to me.

Windows 7, however? I'm thinking about it seriously. I want to wait a few months to let all the beta testers find the bugs, but I'm totally thinking about it. Might even upgrade to a whole new computer at the same time. Yup.

I really like Windows 7 so far. No complaints. I've only had a slight issue or two running older games with my current resolution of 1366x768. Most older games don't support that, so it generally has to run window'd, but that's a monitor issue more than OS. I'd go for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

So if 98 still worked?

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

Possibly, but if you are not actually running into situations where you are using all you got, I say keep it.

My PC has lower specs, and I don't find anything really slows me down.

My guess is, that if something is noticeably slowing you down, it is probably not aero. When I first installed 7, my graphics driver control panel was bringing things to its knees. If you have a big slowdown, I would check some other stuff first.

If what you're saying is true, I think my graphics card is the thing causing slow-downs in games I play such as Crysis. That's the only game I've played that's had any noticeable slowdowns at any time, so I think it's my GPU.

tht00 · 11-24-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

So if 98 still worked?

As a desktop machine... that could get pretty ugly.

In the business world, this is much more commonplace. Ever heard of COBOL?