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Testing Windows 7...
- Thread starter QueenZ
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Ok, I haven't tried out 7 yet, and I'll take your word that some of the underlying features may be missing, but I'm still surprised at the number of people who won't give the new UI a go, I mean really, is the stuff from 2000 still better than their new stuff. They even tried to make it more Mac-like by copying the dock. Then again, people on these forums probably ain't looking at 7 like a 'typical' consumer would.
I'm going to have to disagree with the OP. Windows 7 could prove to be a threat to OS X's market share. Even though it's only a Beta, I find it to be much better then Vista. I don't think that there will be any "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" adds bashing Windows 7. I find Windows 7 to be a well put together OS. But... Microsoft has plenty of time to royaly screw Windows 7 up, and given Microsoft's track record, I think that they just might end up doing just that.
My only beefs with Windows 7 so far are as follows:
1. x64 version would not install on my mid 2007 iMac (I atribute this to the way Windows handles EFI)
2. Bluetooth- My aluminum Apple wireless keyboard is having issues with staying connected to Windows 7, It will reconnect after I start to type, and therefor the first word will get cutoff. (I'm currently looking for a solution).
3. Lack of audio driver support for my iMac.
4. I'm not a fan of the new task bar. (This is purely opinion, and has nothing to do with preformance)
Overall, I think Apple should feel threatened by this release of Windows (this coming from a Apple fanboy), I honestly wouldn;t be surprised if this slows down the Mac's growth in market share. Snow Leopard will have to be damn good.
Don
My only beefs with Windows 7 so far are as follows:
1. x64 version would not install on my mid 2007 iMac (I atribute this to the way Windows handles EFI)
2. Bluetooth- My aluminum Apple wireless keyboard is having issues with staying connected to Windows 7, It will reconnect after I start to type, and therefor the first word will get cutoff. (I'm currently looking for a solution).
3. Lack of audio driver support for my iMac.
4. I'm not a fan of the new task bar. (This is purely opinion, and has nothing to do with preformance)
Overall, I think Apple should feel threatened by this release of Windows (this coming from a Apple fanboy), I honestly wouldn;t be surprised if this slows down the Mac's growth in market share. Snow Leopard will have to be damn good.
Don
I've only used Windows 7 for a few days, but so far it's been fixed a few issues I've had with Vista. Both of which have been 64-bit.
Biggest difference I notice is that it does not use as much memory as Vista. With my current system @ 4GB of memory, Vista would utilize roughly 40% at start up. Now keeping the programs as identical as possible when running 7, the memory consumption drops to around 19%.
When going into the Resource Monitor located in Task Manager, not only do you have the ability to view the overall activity of you system, like you would in Vista, you also have the ability to end unwanted tasks. (one of the biggest complaints I had in Vista)
The GUI still remains identical to Vista, and the overall interface still screams Windows. The taskbar feels more like a combination of the taskbar + quicklaunch than it does the OS X dock. And it also gives you the ability to rollback to the previous gen taskbar if you prefer.
On a gaming stand point, the current ATi drivers (8.12) run fairly well. When testing Counter-Strike: Source & COD4, I notice little to no frame drop when compared to Vista64 at the same visual settings.
Driver support could be better, can't expect much from the beta. But I did find the the majority of Vista drivers for my hardware (non Apple) installed w/o issues. The only time I BSOD on 7 was after installing Kaspersky IS, which I removed shortly after. No BSOD since.
But to wrap this long winded reply up, I plan on installing this onto my Mini and seeing how that performs. Hopefully won't have too many issues with drivers.
Biggest difference I notice is that it does not use as much memory as Vista. With my current system @ 4GB of memory, Vista would utilize roughly 40% at start up. Now keeping the programs as identical as possible when running 7, the memory consumption drops to around 19%.
When going into the Resource Monitor located in Task Manager, not only do you have the ability to view the overall activity of you system, like you would in Vista, you also have the ability to end unwanted tasks. (one of the biggest complaints I had in Vista)
The GUI still remains identical to Vista, and the overall interface still screams Windows. The taskbar feels more like a combination of the taskbar + quicklaunch than it does the OS X dock. And it also gives you the ability to rollback to the previous gen taskbar if you prefer.
On a gaming stand point, the current ATi drivers (8.12) run fairly well. When testing Counter-Strike: Source & COD4, I notice little to no frame drop when compared to Vista64 at the same visual settings.
Driver support could be better, can't expect much from the beta. But I did find the the majority of Vista drivers for my hardware (non Apple) installed w/o issues. The only time I BSOD on 7 was after installing Kaspersky IS, which I removed shortly after. No BSOD since.
But to wrap this long winded reply up, I plan on installing this onto my Mini and seeing how that performs. Hopefully won't have too many issues with drivers.
Microsoft didn't copy the Dock. All they did was combine the Quick Launch toolbar with the taskbar application buttons. Of course when you blend the two together, they are going to give the outward appearance of the Dock. But the difference is that one is usable and the other is crap. Here's one man's opinion of why the Dock sucks, and he's right, for the most part. And Apple knows he's right, because they added Exposé to Panther back in 2003. To put it simply, the Dock is nothing more than an application launcher. And not a particularly great one at that. It doesn't adhere to Fitts' Law in any way, as it constantly moves around, changes sizes and icons have a tendency to just randomly appear and disappear.
The taskbar is a far superior solution because it has always been about window management. Now in Windows 7, it can also do application launching, as well. When you click on an icon, it launches the application. And now that same icon that did the launching now becomes the familiar taskbar application button, the window manager. From here, you see all the windows related to that application, and you can close them, minimize them, etc. And with Windows 7, you can now pin icons to the taskbar and rearrange them in any order you want, encouraging muscle memory. And since the taskbar is of a static size and shape, it well adheres to Fitts' Law. The extreme lower left (by default) will always get you to the Start menu, while the extreme lower right (by default) will now activate Aero Peek. In Mac OS X, the Dock (by default) is in the center and magnifies the icons while hovering. This means there is no definite area that can be reliably clicked. You have to hunt for the icons every time.
How exactly can Windows 7 be a threat to Mac OS X's market share when the latter is barely even at 10% on a worldwide scale? Microsoft owns 90% of the client operating system market and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Mac OS X has such a tiny market share that even if it lost or gained customers, you'd never really be able to tell. Not to mention that a lot of "switchers" are already anti-Microsoft in the first place, so they simply won't care about Windows 7.
Of course Apple will continue their "Get a Mac" campaign. Why wouldn't they? It's quite successful, even though it simply portrays Apple (and its fanboys) as immature whiners. In fact, I guarantee you the first commerical will be talking about the "copied" Dock in Windows 7, despite the fact that Microsoft could (and should) counter explaining how their taskbar is a far superior solution.
Windows 7 is coming along very nicely, and I'm curious as to how exactly Microsoft can "royally screw up" Windows 7. Do you even know what the development road map is? Windows 7 is not designed to be a major milestone release the way Vista was. Vista was the milestone. It brought new security models, new kernel designs and a host of new technologies to the table. It's very similar to what Windows 95 was when compared to Windows 3.1. But now, all that hard technical work is done. Windows 7 is simply evolutionary, improving and maturing what Vista already brought. Windows 7 is like Windows 98. It's the same product as its predecessor, just a little better. Microsoft can't screw it up, simply because they aren't doing anything drastic in terms of kernel design. Anything that works on Windows Vista will work on Windows 7, as simple as that.
Actually, no, you can't. Windows 7 simply has the new taskbar, and that's it. You can turn on taskbar icon labels and use smaller icons, which gives the taskbar the same vertical size as the one in Windows Vista, but it won't look the same. (It won't have the beveled look.) Of course, Windows 7 has textual labels off by default because they really aren't necessary anymore.
Wow, I didn't realize public beta was - public... 
I downloaded a copy to run on my work machine and a copy for my MacBook - will post reviews - testing right now in Virtual PC on my work dHell laptop...
How did you set the screen to windows classic? Thanks...
I downloaded a copy to run on my work machine and a copy for my MacBook - will post reviews - testing right now in Virtual PC on my work dHell laptop...
a screenshot..
What do you think about it..?
How did you set the screen to windows classic? Thanks...
QueenZ, might I suggest using Win7 how it was designed to be used- With Aero? Right now, it won't be anything more then what 2000 was- all the improvements really shine with Aero.
Right now I'm using about 850 megs of RAM (out of 3gigs), my CPU usage is somewhere around 3%, and this is the first version of Windows that can run on my MBP without singing my leg-hair.
I was going to upgrade OS X this summer, but now I might just get the iLife suite and Windows 7 instead. This beta is probably just as good as Windows XP was when it came out (perfectly usable), so unless MS screws up majorly (I don't think they will) this will probably be the best version of Windows I've ever used.
IE8, on the other hand, has some bugs... OY!
Right now I'm using about 850 megs of RAM (out of 3gigs), my CPU usage is somewhere around 3%, and this is the first version of Windows that can run on my MBP without singing my leg-hair.
I was going to upgrade OS X this summer, but now I might just get the iLife suite and Windows 7 instead. This beta is probably just as good as Windows XP was when it came out (perfectly usable), so unless MS screws up majorly (I don't think they will) this will probably be the best version of Windows I've ever used.
IE8, on the other hand, has some bugs... OY!
Reinstall the Windows Generic Bluetooth drivers over the Apple-supplied drivers and your keyboard should remain stable. That's what I had to do.
For the audio issues, I'm told that doing an automatic driver search/update for RealTek HD should fix the problem.
Windows Classic is a theme. Simply go into Personalization and select it.Wow, I didn't realize public beta was - public...
I downloaded a copy to run on my work machine and a copy for my MacBook - will post reviews - testing right now in Virtual PC on my work dHell laptop...
How did you set the screen to windows classic? Thanks...
But note that both Windows Classic and Aero Basic do not take advantage of your system's GPU. So, in terms of rendering, they are no better than Windows XP was. That's why if you can, you should use Aero Glass. The effects, like transparency, are fully hardware accelerated thorough your GPU, not your CPU. So, perhaps ironically, it's actually better on the system resources to run Aero Glass than it is to run any of the two fallback CPU-reliant themes.
gkarris, just change the theme to windows classic..
And btw, why would i use that f**g aero if i don't like it? I prefer classic as i'm used to it.. So why the hell would microsoft improve aero and nothing more? That's ridiculous.. hate windows...
And btw, why would i use that f**g aero if i don't like it? I prefer classic as i'm used to it.. So why the hell would microsoft improve aero and nothing more? That's ridiculous.. hate windows...
You don't have to use Aero Glass if you don't want to.
But the reason Microsoft doesn't improve Windows Classic is because it's just that. It's classic. It's designed to be a fallback for computers that can't run Aero Glass for whatever reason. It's also used on Windows Server, which is designed to be as stripped down and minimal as possible. While you can certainly use Windows Classic if you like it, to expect Microsoft to make it fully hardware accelerated like Aero Glass is a bit silly. If you don't like Aero Glass, too bad. That's how it is. It's just like how Apple gives you Aqua and nothing else.