Good question, I have upgraded many motherboards and it doesnt really change the performance of the computer significantly unless you update other parts associated with the motherboard, or if there is something wrong with your current motherboard. All motherboards will be compatible with windows. The things to check for are is that it is the same socket type as your CPU, AGP or PCI for your graphics card and your motherboard interface. If it is compatible with all those, it should work. If you have any problems, you can always ask on the forum.

-C