Microsoft insisted to put Windows Vista at least on par, if not on a superior level compared to Windows XP in terms of performance throughout 2007, in a strategy that proved little efficient even though it also spanned to Vista SP1 and XP SP3. For Windows 7 and Windows 8, the Redmond company has changed tactics somewhat, and is determined not to permit feedback from the general public to dictate next Windows winner in the performance arena. As a matter of fact, the Windows Client Performance Team is hard at work in an effort to build the infrastructure and the tools to take Windows 7's performance to the next level.

At the same time, even with Windows 7 having reached Milestone 1 stage, and with M2 up next, Microsoft is also planning ahead all the way to Windows 8. For the next iterations of the Windows operating system, Microsoft plans to focus on enhancing performance for key components and applications of the platform. Starting with Windows 7, the Redmond company will work even more intimately with original equipment manufacturers and system builders to provide them with the necessary resources to boost the quality of Windows PCs.

At the same time, Microsoft plans to build and reveal to the world what it referred to as extensible platform for Windows performance analysis. Such a platform already exists and is in use, but available only internally, at Microsoft. In addition, machines running Windows 7 and Windows 8 will benefit from unique industry standard definitions Microsoft is cooking up that will enable benchmarking and evaluating PC System performance.

With Windows 7, Microsoft will take the work done with Windows Vista in regards to enabling end users to perform basic troubleshooting tasks one step further through the introduction of a new breed of in-box diagnostics tools set up to detect the cause of performance issues. But the Redmond company's work will not be done with Windows 7. In fact, plans are already in place for even more complex in-box diagnostics resources for Windows 8. And, in Windows 7, the company will simply lay the foundation of what will come in the future.