My second pc is a laptop dual booting xp & ubuntu linux. Running TWS on there as well just to check it out - seems more responsive to me. No lags in charting, etc. Did have to mess with the java settings in ubuntu to have tws use sun java instead of the default java. All my machines are clean loads at this point though - did a little electronic "housekeeping" so to speak. Preparing for that future move away from winblows.
It seems like nobody uses IB's charts. Why not? Would their charts be OK if all I want is 1 minute and 5 minute streaming two day charts?
Good stuff....it's wonderful to hear Java continues to get faster ! I'm running ThinkorSwim, but they have not given the OK to move-up to 1.6 (at 1.5.11 right now). BTW: Have you tried running both QT and TWS at RealTime priority ? Any reason you are running Windows XP, a non-realtime OS, vs. Win2K or Windows Server 2003 ?
Maybe it is time for IB to move TWS from Java based software. My TWS has four windows open (TWS page with 16 symbols, executions, accounts, and one chart) and uses twice the system resources as the RealTick I have running with over thirty windows with charts and watch list monitoring more than 300 symbols. A Java based slim TWS may have been OK in IB's early years but not with all of the features IB is now trying to put into TWS. Could it be that so many of the TWS features, like the order entry "drop down line", would not function without TWS being Java based software? Catoosa
What is a price of a memory chip with a size that TWS consumes? What is a cost of development and support on all platforms of a new TWS spreaded trough our customers?
LOL. I know, right? Some of these "pikers" feel entitled to have it all and have it their way. Anyway, keep up the good work on TWS.
Syswizard, When you say Windows XP is a non real-time OS, what do you mean? I've never heard this. How does this effect quotes/charts? Why would an older OS be better to use? Will Vista have the same issues for daytraders?
You won't hear anyone mention it because their vested interest is to get you to trade with their platform as unimpeded as possible...that means "using what you got". Win2K is about half the lines of source code as Win/XP....and there are fewer services and processes running to support it. Vista is the worst with all of the security services running. As other traders have mentioned in this thread, running TWS or ThinkorSwim's Java trading platform under Linux makes a big difference in performance. That says it all. Unfortunately, most platforms are only written for Windows. If you do not want to learn Linux, best to get Windows Server 2003 and tune it to be foreground reactive. Also, the priority control utilities mentioned in this thread will insure your app gets the processor high in the food chain. Keep in mind, all of this is moot if you are only tracking/trading 1 or 2 symbols. This rec is more geared to those traders handling 20-100 symbols with multiple indicators / systems running.