Some guys said microsoft promised what they couldn't deliver in another thread; in a way they were right as they integrated some Linux Architecture in Windows 7.
The exntfs file system stores and accesses files in a similiar, efficient manner as that of the Linux Kernel; there is less seeking to get parts of fragmented files. It organizes the free space interleaving the used; so, when new files are stored less than, a guess based on tests, 50 MB, they are less likely to be stored in parts or fragmented.
The windows kernel is also VERY VERY stable now; it is more stable than XP! It is NOT A VISTA SP2, as someone said; It takes 7 seconds to go from boot sector to desktop on a core 2 quad with 4 gigs of 1066. I'm not saying a laggy, still-in-load desktop either but a fully usable while loading startup programs.
This is due to them completely changing the way windows accesses memory; it, again, is similiar to how linux accesses memory! There are also checksums now for writing memory to harddisk so data is less likely to get corrupted. Through all previous versions of windows, the protocol for the windows kernel to access memory has remained farily unchanged with the exception of revision for architecture (x86 and x64).
Windows Vista, if you had read a year or two back, was a prerelease of Windows 7, or Windows Vienna; Gates wanted, in my opinion, retirement money
and It was worse in performance than windows 98. I had various problems with 50 percent of my applications which were made to Microsoft's standards for windows vista.
I also know the truth as to why I had so many problems; as I said, the protocol for the windows kernel to access memory has remained farily unchanged since windows xp. They wanted to release vienna early BUT they were in a bind; they weren't done with the new Vienna kernel. So, Vista became the partial looks of Vienna with the partial of the kernel BUT most of the kernel came from XP! This was a quick fix BUT a terrible idea. You can't mix oil and water!
Windows 7 does have bugs, but, unlike the prior version's bugs, the bugs are not in performance or stability. Microsoft actually rethought their priorities focusing more on these areas, for once. In previous versions, they focused more on appearance and functionality than reliability and stability. I'm sure they will have everything fixed by October of 2010.
By the way, I got double the frames on most of the DX 10 games in comparison to vista; I got 30 percent more than XP in dx 9. The ATI HD series (I use 3870's) cards support Tesellation where the images are drawn using triangles instead of Hexagons or Squares. The Tesellation is exclusive to Directx 11, included in Windows 7 Beta build 7000; also, whenever the Direct3D is not in use by games, the GPU's become my 5th and 6th main system processors. Still thinking of buying that Core 2 Extreme when you can get 4 way SLI and more performance for the same price?