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Performance Improvements

Bun 1.2 Improves Node Compatibility and Adds Postgres Client
Tech Optimizer
April 2, 2025

Bun 1.2 Improves Node Compatibility and Adds Postgres Client

Bun v1.2 has been released, enhancing compatibility with Node.js and introducing a native S3 object storage API and a built-in Postgres client alongside the existing SQLite client. The update focuses on Node.js compatibility, achieving a 90% pass rate on the Node.js test suite for core modules. The team adapted the Node test suite for Bun to address challenges with error message verification. New features include support for the node:http2 module, which offers a 2x speed enhancement, and additional support for node:dgram, node:cluster, and node:zlib. The built-in S3 support allows file operations with a 5x speed improvement over Node.js packages. The new Postgres client includes optimizations such as automatic prepared statements and connection pooling, potentially increasing read speeds by 50% compared to popular Node.js Postgres clients. Bun is developed in Zig and uses WebKit’s JavaScriptCore as its JavaScript engine, with the first version launched in September 2023.
PostgreSQL Database Lands Initial Support For IO_uring: "Can Be Considerably Faster"
Tech Optimizer
March 27, 2025

PostgreSQL Database Lands Initial Support For IO_uring: “Can Be Considerably Faster”

Initial support for IO_uring has been merged into the PostgreSQL Git repository as of March 26, enhancing asynchronous I/O capabilities. This feature is part of the upcoming PostgreSQL 18 release. To use it, developers must compile PostgreSQL with the --with-liburing option and set the I/O method to io_method=io_uring in the configuration. Recent commits included adding the liburing build dependency and integrating the io_method=io_uring option. Using IO_uring can significantly improve performance, especially for small I/O operations, due to reduced context-switch overhead and limitations of worker-based AIO. IO_uring is Linux-specific and requires the liburing library. Further performance optimizations are anticipated before the PostgreSQL 18.0 release in September.
Windows Photos gets revamped with powerful AI features and smarter tools
Winsage
March 27, 2025

Windows Photos gets revamped with powerful AI features and smarter tools

Microsoft has updated its Photos app for Windows Insiders, integrating AI features, including the Copilot assistant. This update introduces a dedicated button for accessing Copilot, which offers personalized photography editing tips and image insights. Users can upload images to receive AI-generated feedback, although Copilot does not yet edit photos. The app now includes enhanced optical character recognition with a "Search in Web" option, allowing users to highlight text in images and search online. New shortcuts in File Explorer enable users to access AI editing tools easily. The "Visual Search with Bing" tool allows exploration of similar images and related products. The updated Gallery View supports smarter folder navigation, and JPEG XL support improves image quality and compression. Microsoft has also addressed bugs affecting AI features and made general performance improvements.
Windows 11's File Explorer will unpack ZIP files much faster soon
Winsage
March 24, 2025

Windows 11’s File Explorer will unpack ZIP files much faster soon

Microsoft released a new preview version of Windows 11 to members of the Windows Insider Program on the Canary Channel. The update includes an improved built-in decompression tool in File Explorer, offering faster performance for unpacking ZIP files, and addresses various bugs, including a fix for a graphics issue affecting users with multiple monitors. Detailed information about the changes in Windows 11 Build 27818 is available on the official Windows Insider announcement post.
Microsoft's DirectX update could double ray tracing performance in PC games
AppWizard
March 21, 2025

Microsoft’s DirectX update could double ray tracing performance in PC games

DirectX Raytracing 1.2 is a rendering API developed by Microsoft that aims to improve ray tracing efficiency in gaming. It introduces enhancements such as opacity micromaps, which can increase performance by up to 2.3 times in path-based gaming, and shader execution reordering, which could double performance in certain scenarios. Nvidia has committed to providing driver support for this API across its GeForce RTX GPU lineup, and Microsoft is also working with AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm for compatibility. Additionally, techniques like neural block texture compression and neural supersampling are being explored to enhance real-time path tracing. A preview software development kit for DirectX Raytracing 1.2 is set to be released in April.
silver Android smartphone
Winsage
March 20, 2025

Windows 11 File Explorer is about to get a speed boost

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Build 27818 for users in the Canary Channel, enhancing File Explorer's performance for extracting zip files. The update includes general improvements and fixes, such as displaying additional details about Pluton TPM chips in the Windows Security app. The suggested actions feature for copying phone numbers or future dates is being deprecated. A critical fix addresses a d3d9.dll crash affecting application launches. Other improvements include enhanced performance for unzipping files, fixes for File Explorer Home loading issues, taskbar app window preview corrections, resolution of a ctmon.exe crash impacting typing, fixes for Settings launch errors, graphics performance improvements, resolution of Visual Studio Code installation issues with Admin Protection, and fixes for Remote Desktop freezing issues. Additionally, a fix addresses application opening failures related to a virtual machine component error.
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