Windows 7 and I went for a little spin today and I’m pleased to report the old girl is doing quite well. As hard as it is to beleive, I’m not actually a total anti-Windows douche and I was actually very excited to be able to try out a fresh new version of Windows free and much earlier than expected.
I installed Win 7 under VMWare Fusion on my Mac Pro and I it took about three installs for the OS to “take” on my machine, one of the things that I used to hate about running Windows. While I understand and accept that perhaps the problem was between the keyboard and the chair, I refuse to accept that I as a fairly savvy computer user can’t install a new operating system outright. I know what you’re saying – “Bitch some more, n00b, you suck” – but if I had this trouble, I would definitely not give this disk to my Dad to install even on a stock PC.
This, however, is where my pain ended. I was greeted with the new OS in all its glory. I was never a big fan of Vista but the clean-up job they did on Win7 is quite admirable. The task bar is intuitive and useful, Aero has come into its own, and the ribbon theme that ran through later versions of Office has fallen to the wayside, replaced instead by a more-task oriented approach to application launching.
In terms of stability I see Win7 as another XP – a workhorse. Vista was Microsoft’s Windows Me move – some sort of strange itch that they have to scratch every few years while the pay lip service to “multimedia” and “user experience.”
As Scott wrote earlier today, Win7 feels like Linux or – dare I say it – OS X. In short, we find not much clutter to get in the way of a job well done.
I’m going to take the Pepsi challenge this week and use Win7 as my primary OS. It won’t be easy – because I’m a Mac Douche, obviously – but Win7 deserves a second and third look.
Wow. What exactly didn’t “take” about your install, and could it have been VMWare related? I’ve installed 5 times now — different boxes — since the Win7 release, and every install has been flawless, including the VirtualPC install. The physical hardware installs each took about 29 minutes to install, which was pretty amazing.
What happened during your install? I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to have my parents install Win7, though a “beta OS” might be a bit much for them… :)
What configuration are you using on Virtual PC? I’ve installed it several times without an itch on a new partition, but couldn’t get it to work with Virtual PC.
I hear it expires and will die 08/01/09 so enjoy it while you can! :)
“Win7 feels like Linux or – dare I say it – OS X”
what? thats like saying: it’s like a telephone or a pickle.
but pickles taste good.
“Telephone is Delicious!”
- Cookie Monster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuqWQjmM3Zg
who tried windows 7,
please paste ur commnets .. i want to see what users say.. then ill try :)
….
http://www.metaaks.com
—————-
It seems a little harsh to break bad on the OS not installing in an environment that it wasn’t designed to run in. Oh, and did we forget that it’s also a beta?
This is an old, but true saying:
The only time Microsoft will make something that doesn’t suck is when they start making vacum cleaners.
Great stuff! We have been trying Win7 for a while on a similar configuration as well. It’s been running slower than we expected but still usable over a VM on a mac. We got BSOD once and if we install the VMWare tools, then Win7 won’t boot. Other than that, things seem fine.
- http://www.skratchboard.com
It just works…….pretty snappy on old hardware……….its beta !!??
Too funny how you can pick the Mac users right out in this comment thread. Are you really that close minded that you can’t even give something a chance unless it’s built by Apple? Yeah, MS has had it’s fair share of s#itty releases, but seriously… Apple is no saint either. Mac or Win user, you just need to appreciate that it all comes down to the user, and what they prefer in an OS. Been using Win7 for almost a week now, and I have to say things are looking very promising.
Jason is right, you can pick the mac and linux people straight out. If you have that much distaste for all things MS then why try it, or why even comment on it.
I have installed Win7 on several machines, all with different specifications. I have not had a single issue what so ever, including the MP3 bug so many reported.
The only bug I have had is with a sound glitch in Left 4 Dead with sound levels not staying constant from map to map. I submitted a bug reports and low and behold it was some how fixed in the next round of updates.
It has taken a while but I believe MS has found their way back to the path. Win7 even in beta form is fantastic. It is fast, smooth, and very efficient. I have to say I have adopted it for my primary OS and wont be going back.
I’M a PC
I am unfortunately forced to use Windows for certain applications because the company I work for uses some software that is mostly incompatible with the Mac OS. That’s the only reason I use Windows OS. Vista is pathetic. It is so non intuitive compared to the Mac OS. Not to mention way more unstable than Mac. Windows keeps trying to catch up to Mac OS and from what I’ve been forced to see, it’s never gonna happen.
@Luther
Don’t lie, you’ve never used Vista in your life. It was way more intuitive than XP was, and certainly more than anything Apple can come up with. But my main problem with your post is your statement that it is unstable! Maybe you just don’t know how to use a computer (hence your allegiance to Apple) but Vista is the most stable operating system Microsoft has ever made. I have uptimes of over 3 weeks ON AVERAGE, and that is with heavy gaming, downloading, movie watching, and dvd burning! The only time I EVER reboot is when I have to update. Get a real computer and stop using that overpriced Mac.
I have been running Win7 for about a week now, and all i can say is…”I’m Impressed”, which is hard to do considering what MS did with Vista. Yes, when Vista came out it was leaps and bounds over XP, but the stability was just not there. Win7 covers the areas left behind with Vista, and still has the familiar feel of an easy-to-us OS.
I currently run XP, Vista, CentOS 4.7, CentOS 5.2, and now Win7 Beta. I am not impressed with a whole lot as far as “ideas” for OS’s, but Win7 covers some things that even hardcore Mac or Linux users can appreciate.
wait a sec.. Vista is intuitive? Yeah, maybe if you were born yesterday, and haven’t spent 30 years bouncing from one OS to another without really finding anything intuitive about any of them (with a couple of rare exceptions, but I don’t want to start another war on top of this one). As an IT sysadmin, Vista was a cruel joke, and so far, just looking at Win7’s Firewall Control Panel, I would say M$ is still laughing. Vista R2 is what Vista should have been 2 years ago, but it’s still what it is, and I’d rather switch (to something tested, accepted, and known, like Ubuntu or CentOS), than fight another M$ product. My $0.02
You’re crazy. Vista is extremely intuitive, and from what I’ve heard, Win 7 even more so. From a user’s perspective, there really isn’t too much lacking. The Windows Firewall is quite easy to use. As someone who still puts a $ in MS, I can tell you are still stuck in the early 90s. Wouldn’t want you for my sysadmin.