compare windows 10 vs windows 7

Windows 10 is here and largely it's a big improvement over Windows 8, but what if you’re still using Windows 7? 

Microsoft may be offering a free upgrade to Windows 10, but should you take it or should you stick with what you know?

In this comparison we're going to focus on the big differences between Windows 10 and Windows 7. It isn't an exhaustive account, but it covers the big things you should care about and the little things you'll notice first.

WINDOWS 10 VS WINDOWS 7 – PERFORMANCE

One of the least talked about improvements of Windows 8, and subsequently Windows 10, is that it does include a raft of performance upgrades.

Chief among these is boot-up time, which is markedly quicker, while better hardware acceleration and a host of other tweaks mean general navigation feels nippier, too. Power management has also been improved, so mobile device battery life tends to be a little longer.

Gaming performance is much more evenly matched, but with Windows 10 comes exclusive access to DirectX 12, which unlocks more performance from your existing hardware (game dependent) and is the future for Windows gaming – read our DirectX 12 vs DirectX 11 comparison for more on that.

It may seem like trivial stuff, but if there’s one single thing that's generally at the heart of the upgrades we make to our computers, it’s performance. So the fact that Windows 10 offers that base-level improvement on top of all its other features is definitely something to be happy about.

WINDOWS 10 VS WINDOWS 7 – DESIGN

Windows 8 marked a stark departure from the styling of Windows 7, with flat windows and bold colours taking over from 3D-looking icons and round-edged and transparent windows.

Windows 10 continues this change, with the flat and bold styling now taking over desktop icons and other core system features, though there’s still some way to go, with plenty of features such as the Control Panel and Computer Management interfaces using old icons.

WINDOWS 10 VS WINDOWS 7 – GAMING AND DIRECTX 12

We touched earlier on how gaming performance hasn’t changed much on Windows 10, but it’s worth elaborating.

In fact, there's a slight drop in performance on average, with Windows 10 tending to be about 0.5% slower than Windows 7, particularly with older games – Crysis 3, for instance – although there are some instances where the roles are reversed. Of course 0.5% is a ridiculously small amount either way, so much so that it’s not worth worrying about.

Elsewhere, Windows 7 has proven to be a robust and reliable gaming platform, though not one entirely stacked with innovation – it’s a solid base on which a host of gaming tools are built.

Windows 10, though, adds a load of new features. Most will, in all likelihood, be of limited interest to most PC gamers – the ability to access your Xbox Live account, stream games from your Xbox to your PC and have multiplayer games work with both PC and Xbox players – though they are, of course, mostly welcome.