Understand and improve your computer's performance in Windows Vista
By Stephanie Krieger
When presenting at a user group meeting last week, someone asked me if a low Windows Experience Index (WEI) score of 1 or 2 means that he should not use Windows Vista on that computer. The answer is "not at all."
One of my favorite capabilities of Windows Vista is that it scales itself to fit your computer to help give you the best possible performance. For example, if your computer doesn't have the graphics capability to effectively display the new Windows Aero visual effects, Windows Vista won't enable those effects on your computer.
In this article, I'll show you where to find your computer's WEI base score and subscores, as well as how to interpret them. I'll also show you how you can use these scores to help know what to look for when buying a new computer, upgrading your existing computer, or troubleshooting performance issues.
