Windows Experience Index

Did you ever wonder how your PC/device stacks up against other devices? Since the beginning of Windows Vista, Microsoft has created the Windows Experience Index or WEI. The WEI measures the capability of your device’s hardware and software configuration and expresses this measurement as a number called a base score. This singular value has various ranges depending on your Windows version. On Windows 7, the values range from 1.0 -7.0 and Windows 8 ranges from 1.0-9.9.

The WEI base score is determined by the lowest subscore. For example, if the lowest subscore of an individual hardware component is 2.6, then the base score is 2.6. The base score is not an average of the combined subscores. If the score is low, there will be impaired functionality of some sectors of a given program or the program could be completely disabled.

The intent is that end users can use the base score to confidently purchase software that are matched to their device's base score. This information helps the end user determine how well their device will run the application. It’s very similar to the health grade of a restaurant, which help customers make better decisions.

Check out these links for more information regarding WEI:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb530740(v=vs.85).aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_System_Assessment_Tool

To access the WEI on a Windows 7, follow the steps below.

1. Right Click on “My Computer” and select Properties from the drop down menu.

2. This will bring up the Performance Information and Tools dialog. The WEI value can be seen below. Based on my current devices CPU, Graphics Cards, Memory, etc, it has a value of 4.3. This is an above average score on the 1.0-7.0 Windows 7 scale. This value will help me determine how various apps would perform on my device.

Why the Windows Experience Index is Important?

Typically when a customer purchases a PC application, they will immediately check the hardware requirements for the app. The last thing they want to do is purchase an app and find out their PC is too slow. These hardware requirements typically specify a set minimum and recommended values. They list suggested CPU speed, Memory, Graphics Card and Disk Space. However, these lists of requirements are often quite technical and make it difficult to make an analysis of your system.

This is where the WEI becomes powerful and effective tool to the customer. Instead of analyzing a list of hardware requirements, customer can just look at the app’s WEI score and compare it against their own device’s WEI values. This significantly helps them make better judgment calls when selecting apps that are optimal on their system.

We will be integrating the WEI scoring into the user experience. It will now be required that developers submit WEI scores for each app published. The Intel AppUp client will then use the app WEI score and compare it to the end user’s device WEI score to generate a “Device Experience” scoring. The Device Experience scoring will be displayed on the application details page, as well as the application pop-out window whenever a user hovers over the app. The Device Experience scoring will be displayed as follows on the application details page:

• The scoring shall be displayed as a hand with the thumbs down when WEI value is less or equal than App minimum, the experience shall show “Not ideal: Based on application information provided by the developer, your hardware does not meet minimum application requirements and will likely perform poorly."

• The scoring shall be displayed as a hand with the thumbs up when WEI value is above the App minimum requirements, the experience value shall show: “Based on application information provided by the developer, your hardware meets minimum application requirements but you may not have an ideal experience.”

With this scoring system, developers will now have the ability to deliver differentiated content that will be featured within the store via device detection and categorization.

Submitting WEI score on AppUp

1. WEI score information is entered in the Upload Info tab of App Submission.

2. Select the desired scores for Minimum Requirements and Recommends Requirements. If you need guidance on how to score correctly, check out these reference and links below

Listed below is a table of common CPU/Video Cards and WEI scores. The link below is a database of CPU and their affiliated WEI score. If you don’t see the score in the table, use the database to search.

http://www.drivermax.com/driver/vista-rating/