PCMark 7 and Vantage Updated for Windows 8 Support

PCMARK 7 VERSION 1.4.0 RELEASED

PCMark 7 has been updated to version 1.4.0 and is now fully compatible with Windows 8. Please note that benchmark scores ARE affected by the changes in this update.

**You should not compare scores from PCMark 7 v1.4.0 with any previous version of PCMark 7.**

To get the update, download the PCMark 7 v1.4.0 installer:
http://www.futuremark.com/support/downloads

The major changes in PCMark 7 v1.4.0 include:

IMPROVEMENTS

- Enhanced accuracy in video playback drawn frames measurement.
- In addition to the standard result, PCMark 7 Storage tests now report additional "raw" results where the metric idle values have been excluded from the score calculation.
- Enable or disable hardware accelerated video transcoding from the Help tab for troubleshooting.
- Improved logging.

COMPATIBILITY

- Now fully compatible with Windows 8.
- The Web Browsing test has been completely rewritten to avoid compatibility issues with Windows 8. The previous implementation was based on Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC); the new one is a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application. The heavy lifting in the test is still done by the WebBrowser2 control. Benchmark scores are affected, in most cases going up by a few percent.
- SystemInfo updated to version 4.15 for Windows 8 compatibility.

BUG FIXES

- Fixed issues in video transcoding tests and added transcoding output file validation. These changes affect benchmark scores.
- Fixed a data compression bug in the storage workloads. Benchmark scores are affected in configurations that use data compression at the hardware level.

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PCMARK VANTAGE VERSION 1.2.0 RELEASED

PCMark Vantage has been updated to version 1.2.0 and is now compatible with Windows 8, with some limitations. Benchmark scores are not affected and scores from this new version are comparable with PCMark Vantage v1.0.2.

As the DVD playback functionality required by some PCMark Vantage tests is not included in Windows 8 by default, we recommend using PCMark 7 for testing Windows 8 systems.

To get the update, download the PCMark Vantage version 1.2.0 installer:
http://www.futuremark.com/support/downloads

The major changes in PCMark Vantage 1.2.0 include:

IMPROVEMENTS

- Trial edition removed. PCMark Vantage Basic Edition is now free and can be run an unlimited number of times without registration or restrictions.
- The benchmark no longer tracks application focus, which helps avoid unintentionally ending the benchmark run. Using the PC for other tasks while running the benchmark will influence the benchmark score and should still be avoided.

COMPATIBILITY

- Now compatible with Windows 8, however, the TV and Movies suite requires DVD playback capability (MPEG2) which is not available in Windows 8 by default. The missing functionality can be added by purchasing the Windows 8 Media Center Pack from Microsoft. Without the Media Center Pack the TV and Movies suite is skipped with a score of 0.
- Windows Mail test now works in Windows 8.
- SystemInfo updated to version 4.15 for Windows 8 compatibility.

ADVANCED AND PROFESSIONAL EDITIONS

- Fixed issues with opening saved benchmark result files.