Windows 7 RC with Unibody MBP 17" feedback..

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

I've been playing with the new RC1 release of Windows 7 (64bit).
I've only been using it for a few hours but thought I'd report back what I've seen thus far.

1. Install went perfectly. Windows 7 installed with no fuss. Popped the bootcamp disk in and installed the drivers (version 2.1). 1 reboot later and my macbook pro has all the hardware detected with zero driver issues.

2. My macbook pro runs FAR cooler. The heatrest near the left speaker used to be roasting hot under vista. Under windows 7 there are NO heat issues at all. It's running as cool as OSX now.

3. Battery life has increased from just over 2hrs 30 under vista to over 4hrs 30 under windows 7. This is amazing! I have no idea what settings are different as I haven't played with the power saving stuff yet but so far so good- again it's almost on a par with OSX now for me.

4. I've had NO crashes so far with the software I've used. Everything I've installed that I had running under Vista 64 has worked perfectly under Windows 7 so far.

5. Speed wise I haven't really seen any difference between vista and 7. With the power of the MBP everything runs silky smooth.

That's about it really. I'll try and post anything else I find but so far I'm just amazed with 7. I works as I always hoped vista would, but of course never did.


Regards,
Simon

 

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

You really think that Windows 7 is that much of an improvement over Vista? The steaming dump I took this morning was better than Vista!!

Lol JK JK...

But in all seriousness, it wouldn't be too hard for M$ to pass up Vista. I've been messing around with 7 for about a week or so and I'm not too impressed right now. Maybe its just the fact that it looks too similar to Vista for me. I haven't given up on it yet though. I don't "hate" M$ like a lot of people on here, I want them to make something that works for once! >_<

 

[assassinm4]

w7 is quite a remarkable achievement . i'm now willing to use windows occasionally.. i've only get BCOD for once when i unplug the eSATA without pressing the "safely remove"button, but everything else has been very smooth.

 

[simonpickard]

I've been messing around with 7 for about a week or so and I'm not too impressed right now. Maybe its just the fact that it looks too similar to Vista for me. I haven't given up on it yet though. I don't "hate" M$ like a lot of people on here, I want them to make something that works for once! >_<

I've never really had a problem with Vista (on non apple hardware) however on my MBP it never really worked. I blame this on Apple though not Microsoft. I don't think the bootcamp drivers played that well with Vista.
Not sure what MS have done in 7 but this all seems fixed now.

7 runs cool, great battery life and is very stable for me. The 3 things I couldn't get under Vista.

I love OSX also but I have to take my hat off to MS. With 7 they have an OS that's just as good from my, all be it, small testing.

Regards,
Simon

 

[jeevesofRKdia]

@ simon

I agree that Windows 7 fixed a lot of the random problems I was having with Vista (I'm running a 15" MBP). There are better backgrounds, better smaller things that are nice (like Aero Peek) that help make the usability interesting. I feel that the "extra" things that an OS adds should also be functional and variegated. (like Expose or Spaces)

However, how cool is cool? With my computer, it's a little warm in OSX too. According to iStat Pro, temps run into the 130s F when I've been using it for about 5 or 6 hours straight.

Although, I will give you that Vista ran quite hot... haven't really noticed yet on Windows 7.

 

[simonpickard]

How cool is cool... A good question.

All I can say is that in Vista I was bearly able to rest my hand on the left speaker towards the top (close to the screen). I think this is where the gfx card is.

In windows 7 this area stays as cool as it does under OSX.

I don't have exact figures but for me Windows 7 is now perfectly usable on the MBP where as Vista I had to run input remapper with the fans forced higher just to keep the thing from crashing.


Regards,
Simon

 

[eros deus]

Trackpad Fix?

I really would like to get a new unibody mpb but have been holding back because of all the issues surrounding the trackpad and Windows XP / Vista. It seems that apple intentionally has left the trackpad drivers unfinished for windows. (I would be using both mac osx and windows, and not having a functional trackpad working while on the windows side is a ball breaking deal buster.)

So, to the point: Does the trackpad work under Windows 7 RC1?

 

[simonpickard]

RE: trackpad.

Yes it works perfectly from what I've checked so far.
Multitouch, the works.