Windows 7 Beta thread, problems and thoughts?

[inigel]

Well, I did it. Downloaded and installed the 64 bit version.

For those of you who want to know how to install:

1. Burn the ISO using Disc Utility
2. Insert DVD and restart the computer
3. Hold Option key and select the Windows CD from the boot menu

It's easy.

The only hurdle I have come across is sound drivers. I can not get any sound working. I have a Jan '08 8 Core Mac Pro.

I think Microsoft are really onto something here. The new task bar is great. Any other issues or opinions users would like to share with the rest of the community?

 

[js81]

I must say, so far I am quite impressed with 7. Vista was the breaking point for me and my PC - it was just too dog slow! 7 is different, though - runs better than Vista on half the hardware. Will I switch back? No chance. Will I allow a PC into my house again? That's very likely. I love OS X and, yes, Windows is good at some things, too - 7 is a huge improvement! This is the OS that Microsoft should have released 2 years ago. Then again, maybe the Mac marketshare wouldn't have grown like it has. Ah, all things happen for a reason, I guess.

 

[drlunanerd]

There are already 2 large threads in this forum covering Windows 7 on the Mac; you'll find answers to your issues in them.

 

[garybUK]

There has been numerous threads on Windows 7 here.

Personally i have tried it on a variety of hardware and I am very very impressed with Windows 7. There are still some bugs but so far it's shaping up to be a nice slick OS.

Taskbar is absolutely amazing, it's truely useful, it doesn't get in the way and i like how it previews windows when you hover over them. I have found some bugs with it, not showstoppers. MSN windows if maximised seem to be 'invisible'

Media Player... it's weird getting used to the Photo's, Music, Video's in one media player window but i think this is a great idea, especially if they get sync to work nice with pmp's

IE8 seems really snappy and quick though there has been a couple of times it has crashed (still beta)

Drivers seem a bit of a mare at the moment, but usually Vista drivers work.

I LOVE the UK theme's it installs automatically as it knows where i am :-D

 

[Infrared]

Well, I did it. Downloaded and installed the 64 bit version.

For those of you who want to know how to install:

1. Burn the ISO using Disc Utility
2. Insert DVD and restart the computer
3. Hold Option key and select the Windows CD from the boot menu

It's easy.

The only hurdle I have come across is sound drivers. I can not get any sound working. I have a Jan '08 8 Core Mac Pro.

I had the same issue. The Boot Camp setup program did not
install the drivers properly. To get them installed I used 7zip
to extract the drivers from the RealTek installer and then I
updated the drivers manually from Device Manager.

However, I feel I should point out that someone told me it'd
be better to get more up to date drivers from the RealTek
site. Despite that, the drivers on the 2008 MP installation disk
seem to have worked just fine for me after manual installation.

 

[numbersyx]

The skinny seems to be that Windows 7 is getting good reviews. Won't put it on my Mac until it is fully released, I suspect. Although I must say that I am not really finding a need to use Windows at all anymore.

 

[MRU]

^ Realtek drivers from their site do work better.



Couple of problems I have encountered involve copy protection.

Firstly the game 'The Witcher Enhanced Edition' does not work as the TAGES sercurity system fails to run properly. When manually updated the TAGES driver to 5.5 it still fails to run with the wrong disc error.

Secondly 'Trackmania Sunrise' failed to run for similar reasons. It's copy protection system is not compatible with windows 7. I updated my game to the TM: Sunrise Extreme and tried like hell to update the copy protection system itself but to no avail.

Gaming in general...

Games generally exhibit slighlty lower framerate than XP. Crysis Warhead for example defaulted to 'Mainstream' settings in Windows 7 and the game was a little choppy. In XP the game defaults to 'Gamer' settings and can be run at a higher resolution with a more solid framerate.



I switched back to XP as I only game in Bootcamp. But when newer drivers for the GPU, and security features are released to support Windows 7, I will switch back.

 

[MSIDude]

I had the same issue. The Boot Camp setup program did not
install the drivers properly. To get them installed I used 7zip
to extract the drivers from the RealTek installer and then I
updated the drivers manually from Device Manager.

However, I feel I should point out that someone told me it'd
be better to get more up to date drivers from the RealTek
site. Despite that, the drivers on the 2008 MP installation disk
seem to have worked just fine for me after manual installation.

It is probably that the drivers for Realtek just need to be updated. I had problems with Symantec not liking Windows 7 but that is probably because the version I am using wasn't designed or tested for Windows 7 just like the Realtek drivers.

 

[LAmezq3984]

OS X version?

So I have been trying to install Windows 7 on my Mac Pro since it was released and it will get through the whole install process until the part where it starts up windows 7 for the first time. I will see the windows start up screen, and then a kind of glitch, the screen goes black and then I get a blue screen. This screen is saying there is some issue with hardware and that Windows is going to restart. There is so much text on screen that I can't read it all because the screen goes away so quickly. Once Windows comes back, it gives me a safe mode option screen. I try all of the options, and none of them work.

So I am wondering if the problem is due to my computer running 10.5.1 instead of 10.5.6? I am able to install Windows XP and Vista perfectly fine.

 

[SimonMW]

I just installed Windows 7. My reaction is, well nothing much at all. It is still the same old Windows under the hood. Same old registry, same old endless nag boxes each time anything is done.

I don't know what the fuss is about as far as Aero goes. Some people are saying they like it better than OS X. I just do not understand. Windows 7 may have glassy see through windows, but it also has great big thick clunk borders in aero style around everything. But worse is that *inside* the Aero styled windows you see the same old fashioned W98 styled dialogue boxes! Just look at the status bar at the bottom of the Internet Explorer window. It is pure W98 with that flat grey styling. MS just do not seem to be able to design GUI's with any elegance at all.

MS still haven't got font smoothing sorted out. On a Mac it looks like I am looking at print. In Windows all I see is straggly jaggedy text even with the font smoothing options tuned.

What do I like? Well I think the task bar is probably more sensible and usable than the Dock, and is also a more efficient use of screen estate.

I know it is a beta, but as a public release it is a late beta, so I think that it is probably very representative of the final result. I really do not think that it will be anything close to Snow Leopard. Apple just need to sort out the Finder and make it more like Pathfinder.

 

[iObama]

I think they did a great job of making it look good even without Aero. Vista without Aero was just crap.

 

[iObama]

So I am wondering if the problem is due to my computer running 10.5.1 instead of 10.5.6? I am able to install Windows XP and Vista perfectly fine.

That is definitely A problem. I don't know about it being THE problem.

Why have you waited so long to upgrade? 10.5.2 is a crucial update to be missing. (Well, so are all of the other ones, come to think of it...)

 

[LAmezq3984]

That is definitely A problem. I don't know about it being THE problem.

Why have you waited so long to upgrade? 10.5.2 is a crucial update to be missing. (Well, so are all of the other ones, come to think of it...)

Oh, I am a very adamant updater. I update everything as soon as I can. However with the updates of 10.5.4 to the current 10.5.6 I always lose WiFi signal from my airport. I tried lots of different things, and there are tons of people having the same problem. So instead of running a 50ft ethernet cable down my hallway (which I did for three months) I just downgraded to 10.5.1 and I have perfect wireless reception. I'm waiting for Apple to either release an update, or that Snow Leopard will somehow fix this problem.

I just installed both XP and Vista (upgrade) today and everything was fine. I might just have to wait for both Apple to resolve my wireless problem and for Windows 7 to be available in stores.