Puzzling 2D comparison

[Burris]

I have a 4yo Dell XPS laptop and also a 1yo Alienware
desktop (bought for my wife). The laptop has a higher 2D score
then the desktop. Sorry for not much detail (at work).

Laptop is WinXP 32b, Desktop Win7 Ulimate 64b
Is there something inherent with Win7 that slows down 2D performance?

I will be comparing the vid card settings over the weekend.
Both systems have dual nvidia vid cards that were top of the
line at time of purchase.

Laptop 713.9 2D, 489.5 3D
Desktop 705.9 2D, 2220.7 3D

Wife likes to edit photo's alot and seems kinda slow.

Sorry for random typing, lol
Thank you for any replies

[David (PassMark)]

Win7 has a much more fancy 2D interface. So this sucks some power, but there is also deeper technical reasons,
See this FAQ
Q. 2D results in Windows 7 seem poor compared to previous versions of Windows, why is this? (http://www.passmark.com/support/performancetest/2d_windows7_performance.htm)

[Burris]

Thank you for the reply
I had actually just found that FAQ. Slightly more technical
then I really understand but at least I can show that to my wife :)