After the pain of trying to download Windows 7 and failing repeatedly (you need to use Internet Explorer which installs an Akamai download manager), I’ve installed the beta on a Mac using Boot Camp. I’ve previously used Vista 32bit on the same machine. Win7 seems to be working fine.
So far, only had time for initial impressions:-
- Appearance – Looks very like Vista with the exception of the start bar and the system tray. I rather liked Vista’s look — especially the translucent window border — so this isn’t bad by me. But if Microsoft is trying to distance Windows 7 from Vista then they should try harder!
- Memory – Idle memory on start-up is lower than Vista. I’m not sure how much lower as I’m making a guesstimate by comparing this vanilla install with a Vista that had many applications set-up, some of which ran on start.
- Sleep/wake – Goes in and out faster than my old Vista install, but slower than XP or Mac OS.
- Functionality – It really doesn’t seem much different. The only enhancement I’ve noticed and liked is that the ‘tray’ icon for the current WiFi network shows signal strength. The hyped ‘jump’ menus from the application task bar icons seem a little pointless.
- Boot camp / running on a Mac – The Vista Apple boot camp hardware drivers installed just as they would on Vista and seem to be working. This appears to confirm that there is little under the bonnet difference. I will try running Windows 7 under VM Ware Fusion later this week.
Tagged: Mac, PC, Windows
