Office 2007 and IE 7 peformance on XP Pro Versus Vista Business

Is it just me, or does Office 2007 and IE 7 run like dogs on XP Pro SP2?

The reason I ask this is because the XP Pro SP2 based system I run in the Office is no slouch!

• Intel QX6700 Quad Core Extreme


• Intel 975XBX


• ATI X1900 CrossFire & X1900XTX Video


• 4 GB Kingston RAM

It may be possible that I am experiencing some sort of configuration issue, but nothing comes up in the diagnostics for Office that I can see.

The system at Home running Office 2007 and Vista Business is configured as follows:

• Intel P4 650 3.4 GHz. HT


• Intel D925XCEV2


• ATI X850 PCI-E


• 4 GB Kingston RAM

Office runs so smooth, as does IE 7.

When it comes to IE 7, we are running a smaller Internet connection at home, 1.5 Mb/s as opposed to the 4.0 Mb/s here in the office where the XP box is. Makes for even more puzzlement.

Same sites on both machines, XP & IE 7 renders slower than Vista and IE 7.

I can remember hearing at the various Microsoft events that I attended that Vista, Office 2007, and IE 7 were meant for each other.

This experience of mine working with both OS configurations on fairly high end machines definitely puts some truth to that!

By the way, both the home and the office are Small Business Server 2003 Premium integrated with Exchange 2003 SP2.

The big thing for me at this point is to wait until the more exotic components that I have plugged into the system here in the office has Vista drivers that are no longer in Beta. I will then blow away the box and build on Vista Ultimate as we are licensed for it via our Software Assurance.

In my experience, Vista, Office 2007, and IE 7 rock together!

Happy Vista, Office 2007, and IE 7 Operating!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists