NoelC

Thanks for your comments on SSDs, helmutcheese, but keep in mind I'm comparing performance with the very same hardware from before (on Win 7) and after (on Win 8.1, which I've been running for 4 months now). I know how the SSD array worked under Windows 7. I've already said that the anti-malware software doesn't figure into this, as I have tested with and without it. It's been my experience, having used Avast exclusively since 2005, that it's one of the best if not THE best anti-malware solution. -Noel

After 16 days running, it's the monthly Windows Update day today. I'm goin' in... I will advise here if there are issues with Aero Glass after the updates are installed. Wish me luck! -Noel

Thanks for responding. Good question; I should have mentioned anti-malware software. The short answer is that I've done enough different checks to determine that anti-malware software isn't figuring into this. 1. I run Avast! antivirus, not the Microsoft Security package. Specifically I run only the "shields" portion of Avast, including the "file system shield". 2. I've tried it with the "shields" disabled or enabled, and even with and without the software installed. The performance issue is there in every case, and is a characteristic of Windows 8.1. I never put up Windows 8.0 on my hardware - though I did run it and test it thoroughly in VMs, and there I saw similar performance degradations as compared Windows 7. 3. Avast! (one version older) was in place on Windows 7 when I was able to measure the much higher speeds. What's interesting is that Microsoft (and fanboys) have hyped up Windows 8 so much as faster than Windows 7 that I have been extremely careful to ensure that the relative performance measurements I've done are sound. My I/O subsystem is faster than most, so it's possible I'm seeing differences that are masked for most others by the slowness of their disk hardware. Somehow I suspect that there's a setting that will trigger changes deep inside the NTFS implementation that will improve disk speed, but I don't know what it is. -Noel

Are you saying I'm a sheep? Bah! -Noel

I have a good workstation and a fast SSD array as my boot volume. Ever since installing Windows 8.1 I have found the file system performance to be somewhat slower than that of Windows 7. There's nothing wrong with my setup - in fact it runs as stably as it did under Windows 7 on the same hardware with the same hardware configuration. The RAID driver claims specific Windows 8.1 support and is current. For example, under Windows 7 I could open Windows Explorer, navigate to the root folder of C:, select all the files and folders, then choose Properties. The system would count up all the files in all the folders at a rate of about 30,000 files per second the first time, then about 50,000 files per second the next time, when all the file system data was already cached in RAM. Windows 8.1 will enumerate roughly 10,000 files per second the first time, then around 18,000 files per second the second time with the cached data - a roughly 1 to 3 slowdown. The reduced speed once the data is cached in RAM implies that something in the operating system is the bottleneck. The NTFS file system simply isn't quite as responsive on Windows 8.1. However, not every operation is slower - certainly not by 1 to 3. I've benchmarked raw disk I/O, and Windows 8.1 can sustain almost the same data rate, though the top speed is just a little lower. For example, Windows 7 vs. 8 comparisons using the ATTO SSD speed benchmark: Windows 7: Windows 8: I've done some "real world" type multithreading/loading benchmarks using such things as Passmark PerformanceTest, and again, the results show Windows 8.1 falls a bit behind Windows 7. I'd be grateful for any tweaks you have discovered or improvements you can suggest for optimizing Windows 8.1's I/O speed. Thanks! -Noel

Big Muscle facilitates your getting transparency with his Aero Glass product, he provides a registry setting to cause blurring at the corners to be rounded (at least in some version he had that, as I recall), and he EVEN offers a DLL that averts the theme signature check... Seems like all you really need to do is find a theme that has rounded corners in its definition and put it all together. The theme atlas png file I did up gives you a faux hint of rounded corners by faking the rounding in the drop shadow. Just enough to take the "edge" off. http://Noel.ProDigitalSoftware.com/ForumPosts/themeatlas.png -Noel

No worries at all; I deserve to be set straight when I mix things up like that. I need to go to Disneyworld or camping or something to unwind. -Noel

Heh heh heh, you know I wasn't talking to you. By the way, do you know about this handy little tool? http://www.quppa.net/wunotify/ -Noel

By the way, there's a wake up call in this for everyone: Now is the time to reconfigure Windows Updates to ask for your permission rather than just letting Microsoft install what they want, when they want. -Noel

Kind of like a service pack, then. There was a time that I'd jump all over a new service pack from Microsoft. That was when they had talent on staff and did mostly good things. Now they single-mindedly focus on pushing everyone to the App Store without providing any features customers could actually want. All I feel is skepticism that there will be ANYTHING good about the new version; I've read of no new features worth mentioning. Tell me why we should want such a thing? I suspect Microsoft will just continue the course they've set where they're just deleting feature after useful feature. Remind me again why we should want such a thing? Right now my Windows 8.1 is perfectly stable for me, and actually facilitates my work. A new version can only make it less stable. Microsoft, you need to convince us we should want such a thing! -Noel

Two weeks of solid, stable running, no glitches so far. This is a tight product. -Noel

I wasn't responding to you at all. Sorry I didn't quote the post I was responding to, but this site is brain-damaged and makes it very difficult to do so. And The Old Man is right, I mixed up two sub-threads. Apparently I'm a bit brain-damaged too. -Noel

Activating your Windows with a key someone else just happened to have means you don't have a valid license. Go out and buy a Windows 8.1 disc, and do a clean install. Done. -Noel Edit: Changed wording of a comment I wrote in which I accidentally mixed up info from two posters.

You need a different one for each computer; it's tied to the identity of some of the parts (e.g., disk drive). -Noel

A. There's no blur in the windows shown on that site; they look exactly like what happens if you screw with certain key registry settings in any version of Windows 8. Nothing interesting to see there. I don't see much credibility in that report, frankly. B. Microsoft rarely takes things as far as BigMuscle has done, quality-wise -- does "perfection" come to your mind when thinking about "Microsoft" lately? If it comes down to a choice between upgrading to a Microsoft flavor vs. continuing to use what BigMuscle has provided here, I think I'm going to seriously consider continuing to use this software. Whether Microsoft is smart enough and able to admit they're wrong enough to restore useful things to the Windows desktop remains to be seen, but I suspect the upcoming update won't be Earth-shattering. Personally, I question whether they even still have the talent to resurrect anything particularly good. It's sad really. -Noel

Ongoing status report: Aero Glass 1.1 is still working flawlessly for me (with DontRequireGlassSafetyZoneOnFullyCoveredRegions enabled) in all-day hard use. No glitches, no failures of any kind. Version 1.1, as they say, works fine, lasts a long time. -Noel

What is the above quote from? A series of posts made then deleted early this morning? Why delete them? Could a Microsoft UI Engineer seriously have written 9 words with 2 (or 3, depending on how you count) obvious mistakes? Here's a positive thought for you, wza67865385: Embrace excellence. It doesn't actually hurt. -Noel

I also like Avast!. They went through a bad time with a bum update a month or two ago and lost a lot of respect, but that's all been fixed and now it's a really good free product that's not only thorough but quite efficient. I paid a lot for a high-end machine with a high-end I/O subsystem, because it means I can do more engineering work. I timed Microsoft's out-of-box solution vs. Avast's. Avast allows the OS get quite a lot (like 25%) more data to/from the disk in the same amount of time. That means a smoother operating system that lets you get more done. Many applications say "disable your antivirus/anti-malware solution before installing". I have NEVER had to do that with Avast. Be aware that there's a lot you can configure, and there are a lot of optional features you don't actually have to install for it to still be useful. For example, I use all the "shields" (web, eMail, and file system), but the only optional Tool I use is the one that checks a lot of installed apps and tells you whether there are updates. This means I can turn off the self-updaters in all the many applications themselves, for a net savings. -Noel

Back during Aero Glass development BigMuscle programmed-in the ability to press and hold the Control key during login to avert the function of the (then Aero Glass) injection process. Is that still available in this tool? -Noel

Speaking of "changing course", an illustration that compares "staying the course"... Scenario: You're on a game show, "Let's Make a Deal". You're asked to pick from Door number 1, 2, or 3. There's a new car behind one of them. You pick Door number 3. The game show host opens Door number 2 and shows you that there's a goat back there. Should you switch to door number 1, now that you know more? Or is there an equal chance you've picked the right door already and you should just stick with it. After all, think how bad you'll feel later if you change your choice and the car really WAS back there behind Door number 3... The answer may surprise you. -Noel

It's initially encouraging to hear things about Windows Threshold like, "This is the release that my sources previously pegged as being the one that will see the return of the Start menu and the ability to run Metro-style apps on the desktop alongside desktop applications". A return to fundamentals (i.e., making it actually do things people need again) certainly seems in order. It's impressive to hear that fewer people have adopted Windows 8.1 (25 million) than used Windows 7's Backup feature (6%, or by my estimate 30 million). Microsoft used that number to deprecate Windows Backup support from Windows 8.1 (though it's not really all gone). But I question whether Microsoft still has the ability to do serious Windows engineering. They can't have come through this ridiculousness without casualties. Microsoft strikes me as a company that's lost in the wilderness because they followed leaders who can't think about more than one thing at a time, nor change course to avoid previously unseen rocks. -Noel

Well said, Paul. You don't need anything special in the form of AppInit_DLLs registry values with the aerohost method of startup. Aero Glass has been running perfectly for me. Here's a testament to its stability: -Noel

Send him 3€ and see what happens. -Noel

Any chance you might consider adding an override where the color could be read from the registry while you're at it? -Noel

Nice! Though I don't choose to use a custom theme, it seems to me this is better than a tool that changes the content of Windows executable files (and in doing so breaks the system protection). I haven't used UXstyle... Can a system modified by UXstyle pass a SFC /VERIFYONLY test? Seems to me if it does, you're asking for trouble during some future Windows Update. -Noel