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from the perhaps-providing-prompt-prompts-prompts-perceived-performance-primacy dept.
Have you ever had that nagging sensation that your computer was slower than it used to be? Or that your brand new laptop seemed much more sluggish than an old tower PC you once had? Dan Luu, a computer engineer who has previously worked at Google and Microsoft, had the same sensation, so he did what the rest of us would not: He decided to test a whole slew of computational devices ranging from desktops built in 1977 to computers and tablets built this year. And he learned that that nagging sensation was spot on—over the last 30 years, computers have actually gotten slower in one particular way.
Not computationally speaking, of course. Modern computers are capable of complex calculations that would be impossible for the earliest processors of the personal computing age. The Apple IIe, which ended up being the “fastest” desktop/laptop computer Luu tested, is capable of performing just 0.43 million instructions per second (MIPS) with its MOS 6502 processor. The Intel i7-7700k, found in the most powerful computer Luu tested, is capable of over 27,000 MIPS.
But Luu wasn’t testing how fast a computer processes complex data sets. Luu was interested in testing how the responsiveness of computers to human interaction had changed over the last three decades, and in that case, the Apple IIe is significantly faster than any modern computer.
https://gizmodo.com/the-one-way-your-laptop-is-actually-slower-than-a-30-ye-1821608743
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30 2017, @10:58PM (3 children)
Why would he hate windows 10 because of that? Everything they have been doing for the past 15 years works exactly the same.
Win 7 on this laptop 1:20 to usable desktop. Win10 about 20 seconds.
Look I like linux. Use it all the time. But do not spread FUD. It is silly to do and usually makes you look foolish when you get called out on it.
You need to check out Gentoo. You can trim a lot more with compiler flags.
That is along the lines of hey that nice 4 door saloon car you have to get to work is junk. You need a Ferrari F430. Do not worry about all the tweaky things to get it just right. Oh and it will go sideways sometimes but thats ok you can just google how to fix it. Oh wait the same as he does now....
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday December 30 2017, @11:51PM
An AC finally types something correct, and it didn't take 1,000,000 years.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @11:25AM (1 child)
I wish people would stop misrepresenting Gentoo, it's not like that at all. If we need a car analogy...
You go shopping for a car.
The first dealership sells the Windows SUV. There's only one model. It weighs 9000 pounds, gets 8 MPG, goes 0-60 in 24 seconds, and it won't move on Tuesdays unless you let it warm up for three hours. Yet, it doesn't carry people any better than any other car. For some reason, 90% of people buy this one, because that's what their neighbors have.
The second dealership sells the Mac SUV. It only weighs 6000 pounds, and it gets 18 MPG. It looks and runs nicer than the Windows SUV, but it costs $100,000. But the people that have them won't even ride in anything else.
The third dealership sells the iOS compact cars. These look great, get great fuel economy and they're even self-driving. Unfortunately, they come with a list of a couple dozen common destinations, and you aren't allowed to go anywhere else.
The fourth dealership sells Android compact cars. These seem a little like the iOS cars, cost less, and you can even pick where to go. The bad news is they break down after a year and nobody will fix them, and they don't have seat belts.
The third dealership sells Linux SUVs. They have compact cars, sedans, vans, trucks, whatever. You have to pass a driving test before you can buy one, but they work great. Trouble is, none of them are ever quite right. Some of them don't have power windows, or stereos, or windshield wipers. The ones that do are starting to seem just like the Windows ones. But at least if you want a small car, you can have a small car, and if you want a big truck, you can have a big truck.
Then you see, around the corner, the little Gentoo dealership. You go in, they have a dozen models and all the cars are nice. The sports car is fast and handles great, the truck tows 25,000 pounds, the sedan has a comfortable ride and is easy to drive, the van has seating for 10 and the seats fold down just right. They've even got a 9000 pound SUV if somebody wants one for some reason. And they have a special deal - if you ever get tired of the car you bought, you can bring it back and trade it in for a different one, no questions asked. You go up to the salesman and are all ready to buy it. Then he says "One last thing though - when it's time to change the oil, it takes three hours instead of one."
And you run out of the dealership yelling "NO WAY!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @11:29AM
Being a little more on topic - computers are faster and compile times are shorter. And the package management system is MUCH better than it was ten years ago. If you ever use any other Linux distribution, and you want to do something that isn't exactly what they imagined you'd do, and you have to follow any guide that contains the words "now download the dependencies..." or similar, then the time and hassle of that one task is more than all the time you'll ever spend reconfiguring Gentoo. Perl is still a little annoying, but everything else, really, just works - and it makes a lot of stuff that you probably assume has to be hard just work too.