Win7 on Air, amazed everything works OOTB.

[spinedoc77]

I've got a rev B macbook air with the SSD drive and I just got done installing Windows 7 RC1 x64 on it. I didn't do it through OSx at all, rather I just formatted the entire drive and let the Windows CD reformat everything, choosing to boot from the installation CD. So there is no Mac OSx installed at all, I have no use for it. Just a single boot into Win7.

After it was all installed I then installed boot camp, then the x64 update for boot camp on Apple's site. There is also a new Realtek sound driver, otherwise I just let Windows update install whatever drivers it wanted to.

I am quite amazed it ALL works. Even the function keys like brightness and keyboard brightness all work perfectly.

Even more amazing I brought home a wireless mighty mouse from the store today and was sure, after reading many reviews, that it would not work 100%, or even 75% based on the poor reviews. Well out of the box it works 100%, every single button works. The left and right main buttons work, the scroll works both horizontally and vertically, the middle button works, and the squeeze buttons work to go backwards while web surfing. Weird part is that ONLY the left or right squeeze button go back, you don't have to press them both. I'd love a way to configure one of them to be forward as it is apparent they do in fact work independently.

Win7 runs amazing on this macbook air!!

 

[007bond]

why the hell would you buy a mac and get rid of os x

you should have bought a lenovo or something.

 

[spinedoc77]

why the hell would you buy a mac and get rid of os x

you should have bought a lenovo or something.

If you want specifics I absolutely love the macbook air hardware, but have many proprietary windows programs at my office. Besides last time I checked this forum section was titled "Windows on the Mac", what's the problem?

 

[i.shaun]

I guess the macbook air is a little cheaper than others, but are the same specs not available on a normal PC laptop for less?


I thought macs in General were more expensive, and for most people, OS X is what they buy for.


Pretty cool that it all works, I would have thought something would go wrong since it's mostly apple hardware. What about the trackpad? Does that have those multi-touch gesture things? (I never seen them, but they sound cool).

 

[MacDawg]

Good for you!

The form factor of the Air is great and if it meets your needs... BRAVO!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[spinedoc77]

Well money isn't an issue, so I wasn't looking for the cheapest laptop available. I just didn't see anything from a hardware and aesthetic point that even came close to matching the macbook air.

The trackpad works perfectly, but I don't know if multi touch works as I'm not sure what, if anything, has multi touch in Win7.

 

[wesrk]

The trackpad works perfectly, but I don't know if multi touch works as I'm not sure what, if anything, has multi touch in Win7.

I also don't know about multi touch and I haven't seen anything in Win7 that takes advantage of that, I could be wrong though.

 

[MacReloaded]

You would still need OS X for certain updates like EFI updates.

 

[Stridder44]

why the hell would you buy a mac and get rid of os x

you should have bought a lenovo or something.

Why the hell would you care? It's his money.

You should have not bothered posting or something.

spinedoc77, you will still need OS X for any firmware updates. Also, you'll probably end up having to buy Snow Leopard to get Boot Camp 3, which will not only include hugely updated drivers but HFS+ drivers for Windows. In any case, enjoy you Air and Windows 7!

 

[spinedoc77]

Thanks guys, great info. In hindsight it looks like a dual boot will be a smarter option, especially with the EFI updates. I'm already running into the hot laptop/fan issues and I see that I need to be in OSx to manipulate the SMC.

What's the minimum I have to allot for OSx to dual boot? I've only got the 128 GB SSD so any used space is precious.

 

[Stridder44]

Thanks guys, great info. In hindsight it looks like a dual boot will be a smarter option, especially with the EFI updates. I'm already running into the hot laptop/fan issues and I see that I need to be in OSx to manipulate the SMC.

What's the minimum I have to allot for OSx to dual boot? I've only got the 128 GB SSD so any used space is precious.

Good question. Just install OS X as usual (format the drive HFS+ journaled) with MINIMAL options selected (no printer drivers, languages, etc.) and install as usual. Then open Boot Camp and move the slider as far to the Windows side as you can.