Microsoft's Angiulo said the software maker took a different development approach during Windows 7 to better tune it to the latest hardware. Instead of delivering a beta of an OS with potential ideas like in the past, Microsoft tried to deliver an OS that was close to a complete version. The feedback from beta testers helped prioritize engineering ideas, which helped improve the OS with relation to system performance and power management.

It is also the first time Microsoft hasn't doubled system requirements for Windows with a new release, Angiulo said. The Windows XP to Windows Vista upgrade in 2007 required users to have faster processors and more memory, but Windows 7 can run on hardware from netbooks to servers, he said. The company also worked with other hardware and software partners to ensure compatible software and drivers were available at the launch of Windows 7.

For example, Windows 7 will support a new API called DirectX 11, which breaks up tasks over multiple CPUs and graphics processing units for better graphics and multimedia performance. The software giant is working with top graphics chip makers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices on those features.

Microsoft isn't the only company to make hardware-related improvements to boost OS performance. Apple has changed the basic architecture of its Mac OS X 10.6 OS, also known as Snow Leopard, by enhancements that allow the OS to divvy up tasks for simultaneous execution across multiple CPU and GPU cores.