14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has taken a huge leap forward with the improvements it introduced into Windows 8's file copy experience. A single, consolidated UI puts you in control of the copy jobs, allowing you to view them as they execute, as well as pause/resume and stop them.
However, not a peep was heard about improving the file copy speed.
We put this to the test in order to check if copy jobs (file moving did not make the object of our examination) are executed faster or not. Since large amounts of files are generally copied from one drive to another, we picked up 35 folders holding 4,735 items, weighing 7.53GB.
The results were quite clear, showing Windows 7 as the winner after repeating the test six times on each version of Windows, even if by a 3.5% difference. On average, the Consumer Preview completed the job in 160.5 seconds, while Windows 7 finished in 154.8 seconds.
The smallest difference was of one second, during our fourth test, when Microsoft's soon-to-be-released operating system took 2'45'' to complete the job, while Windows 7 did it in 2'44''.
Before running each test, we did a full format of the destination partition. Needless to point out that the same hardware was used to carry out the evaluation.
Although in Windows 8 Consumer Preview the transfer speed was not improved, there are other advantages available. Such benefits are the aggregation of all transfers in a single window and the ability to pause/resume each job.
We also noticed that calculating the time of completion is more accurate. In Windows 7, we would see awkward variations, like showing 60 seconds one moment, only to come up with a new estimation the next, which would display a 2-minute interval.
Since, at the moment, Windows 8 is just a Consumer Preview, Microsoft might improve the transfer speeds to be as good as in Windows 7.
