Although some people would have you believe otherwise, Microsoft has actually heard the complaints about slow operating system performance. Building speed into the product is difficult because Windows is a general purpose operating system. Different users have different needs, and it’s tough to find one path that works for everyone.

Performance Monitor Can Trace Problems Over Time

In terms of performance, Microsoft has a set of tools, one of which I discussed last week, the Event Viewer. The Event Viewer isn’t the only performance monitoring tool in Windows Vista, however. You can also get valuable information on the state of your OS through the Reliability and Performance Monitor – also included with Windows Vista.

The Reliability and Performance Monitor skims data from system logs, as well as real-time monitoring, to determine whether a computer is having difficulty. The Reliability and Performance monitor isn’t foolproof, but it will provide additional, up-to-date information on performance issues that may be developing, or that your computer is experiencing consistently.

To run the Reliability and Performance Monitor, enter perfmon into the Run box in Windows Vista. Once the application loads, it will provide Resource View, a performance display that tracks the current operational state of the computer. You can look individually at the Performance Monitor or the Reliability Monitor and set up checkpoints that will help you track your computer’s performance over time.

In general terms, performance measures the speed at which the computer operates. Reliability measures the computer’s ability to perform as it is configured to. Reliability Monitor also keeps track of the stability of the operating system, and keeps track of specific events that could affect the way your computer operates. Reliability Monitor is a good resource to use if you begin to experience problems.

The Reliability Monitor also creates a numerical score for the computer, which can change over time. A decline in the reliability score could indicate that the computer is experiencing problems with recent system updates, application installations or removals, and even problems that might arise from the computer’s hardware. Since Reliability Monitor tracks by date, you can quickly determine when problems started to occur and what events took place immediately before and after specific changes you’ve made.

Performance Monitor and Reliability Monitor enable you to create reports and even provide report templates to help you track the information that’s most important to you. Combined with other monitoring tools available in Windows Vista, the Performance Monitor can help you keep your computer in top condition.