Vista gaming will be 10 to 15 per cent slower than XP

MICROSOFT is telling its selected gaming industry chaps that gaming under Vista will be ten to fifteen per cent slower than XP. It is because you have to load the 3D desktop all the time. It is ironic, as the same company tells the developers that the same API can do certain things up to four times faster.

We are preparing to check this claim but the really pesky thing is that you won't be able to run DirectX 10 games on Windows XP at all. So even a game like Crysis - the first DirectX 10 title - won't be that much of a DX 10. We are still far away from DirectX 10 only games but don't be surprised as there is no single DirectX 10 card the market. This should change in the next few weeks, but we are still far away from mainstream and low end DirectX 10 cards.

So if you play Battlefield 2 or FEAR or any other popular game you are likely to get lower frame rates with Vista. That is certainly not a good buying argument but don't think you and I have much choice as it looks like a take it or leave it deal. I like Vista as the 3D desktop looks sexy but that is probably its key feature. µ