Windows XP to 'slow systems by 50%'

According to the company, each release of a Windows OS means difficult choices and also upsets the benchmark applecart.

The mainstream media doesn't help because it generalises problems. Many reports are tainted by "vendor involvement" (surely not), while official system requirements are self-serving. Comparisons, the vendors consider, are odious and so they discourage them.

That leaves people on their tod, says CSA, but it has a set of tools which will benchmark across Windows generation.

Performance hits on XP, both the OS and the Office suite, will range from between 27-49 per cent, with a default configuration very (CSA italics), CPU intensive.

While that has the potential to sell more hardware, CSA Research believes this is unlikely.

The slides we saw sort of ended there, a little disappointingly, so we zipped over to the firm's Web site to see whassup.

And, of course, CSA has its own axe to grind in the shape of OfficeBench 2001 and a deal with Anandtech.

Perhaps the software will help people make their decision. But for the majority, the choice is that of the famous Mr Hobson - very little at all. And when Windows 98 and support for everything else disappears real soon now, well I guess most people will just have to (our italics) upgrade, like it or no. µ