From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Microsoft is getting a lot of flak for its new 'K2' efforts, a series
of patches aimed at making Windows 11 more responsive by updating
parts of it with the aim of improving its performance and reliability.

Which by itself isn't a bad goal, although I haven't been particularly
bothered by Windows 11's performance... at least not any more than I
am over Windows 10 or any of the previous versions. Then again, I only
have the one Windows 11 PC and it's seriously over-provisioned
compared to the average machine, so it is not surprising that I
haven't had particular problems. I wouldn't be surprised if it feels
bloated and slow with less powerful CPUs with less RAM. It's Windows,
after all.

So improving its performance is a good thing. This means Microsoft is optimizing the code, cutting out unnecessary loops, or reducing
function call overhead, use object pooling, or re-writing in more
modern languages. God knows there's probably still a lot of ancient
code buried in the bowels of Windows that could use a re-write. That's
what Microsoft is doing, right?

Well, maybe... but a big part of their K2 strategy also seems to be
just to get your CPU to ramp up its speed more often, so it can plow
through its crufty code faster rather than actually optimizing the
code itself.* And if that causes more wear on the hardware (and drains
the battery faster), well that's not a Microsoft problem.

But if you can just OC the CPU all the time, it doesn't incentivize
programmers --whether Microsoft or third-party-- to write clean, fast
code. It's a hack, and a short-sighted one at that. Because eventually
even the fastest CPU is going to stumble upon bad code, and it does
little to help PCs already on the edge because they've nothing more to
give anyway.

But that's the Microsoft way.






====
* more details here https://www.neowin.net/opinions/windows-11-is-getting-faster-the-lazy-way/






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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

<snip>

Well, maybe... but a big part of their K2 strategy also seems to be
just to get your CPU to ramp up its speed more often, so it can plow
through its crufty code faster rather than actually optimizing the
code itself.* And if that causes more wear on the hardware (and drains
the battery faster), well that's not a Microsoft problem.

So basically "Set Fans to Ludicrous speed!"

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 11 May 2026 18:04:22 -0400, Xocyll <[email protected]> said this
thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the >entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

<snip>

Well, maybe... but a big part of their K2 strategy also seems to be
just to get your CPU to ramp up its speed more often, so it can plow >>through its crufty code faster rather than actually optimizing the
code itself.* And if that causes more wear on the hardware (and drains
the battery faster), well that's not a Microsoft problem.

So basically "Set Fans to Ludicrous speed!"

To be fair, K2 isn't completely without optimizations... and it mostly
uses the CPU overclock method for initial program start-up, so as to
make the app feel more immediately responsive. It's not like they are overclocking the CPU non-stop. And most modern CPUs do have multiple performance levels and are designed to rev up and down as necessary.

It still doesn't seem a good strategy overall.


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 11 May 2026 16:41:40 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Microsoft is getting a lot of flak for its new 'K2' efforts, a series
of patches aimed at making Windows 11 more responsive by updating
parts of it with the aim of improving its performance and reliability.

Which by itself isn't a bad goal, although I haven't been particularly >bothered by Windows 11's performance... at least not any more than I
am over Windows 10 or any of the previous versions. Then again, I only
have the one Windows 11 PC and it's seriously over-provisioned
compared to the average machine, so it is not surprising that I
haven't had particular problems. I wouldn't be surprised if it feels
bloated and slow with less powerful CPUs with less RAM. It's Windows,
after all.

So improving its performance is a good thing. This means Microsoft is >optimizing the code, cutting out unnecessary loops, or reducing
function call overhead, use object pooling, or re-writing in more
modern languages. God knows there's probably still a lot of ancient
code buried in the bowels of Windows that could use a re-write. That's
what Microsoft is doing, right?

Well, maybe... but a big part of their K2 strategy also seems to be
just to get your CPU to ramp up its speed more often, so it can plow
through its crufty code faster rather than actually optimizing the
code itself.* And if that causes more wear on the hardware (and drains
the battery faster), well that's not a Microsoft problem.

But if you can just OC the CPU all the time, it doesn't incentivize >programmers --whether Microsoft or third-party-- to write clean, fast
code. It's a hack, and a short-sighted one at that. Because eventually
even the fastest CPU is going to stumble upon bad code, and it does
little to help PCs already on the edge because they've nothing more to
give anyway.

But that's the Microsoft way.

Glad I upgraded to an AMD CPU. I'm guessing this is only going to fry
Intel chips. Because that is also the Microsoft way.
--
Zag

Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe,
and to utter freely according to conscience, above
all other liberties. ~John Milton
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 12 May 2026 18:37:53 -0500, Zaghadka <[email protected]>
said this thing:

Glad I upgraded to an AMD CPU. I'm guessing this is only going to fry
Intel chips. Because that is also the Microsoft way.

Oh, have confidence that Microsoft can fry AMD chips too! They're just
that good! ;-)

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