29 décembre
Windows 7 Beta – First Impressions
As I like living on the cutting edge I promised myself that I would convert my main laptop to Windows 7 the moment the official Beta version is released. Although this moment is still a few weeks away for most people, I have managed to get my hands on a shiny copy of the official Beta (Build 7000).
So after a quick backup, full wipe of my Vista laptop and an approximately 20 minute wait for the Windows 7 installer to finish, the system booted without error.
Shiny
This is not a comprehensive review, but my impressions in bullet style and no particular order are as follows:
- It is stable. Haven’t had a single crash, not even after installing all my apps and doing a day’s work on it.
- It is fast. Again difficult to compare as my previous Vista install was nearly 3 years old, but it feels snappy.
- The new window manager is fab. ‘Docking’ windows left and right works great. Quick tip: when using multiple monitors it works slightly differently, use the Windows key in combination with the left and right cursor key to dock windows.
- You can minimise all applications except for the current window by ‘shaking’ it.
- The new task bar is very functional, but it looks messy. I can’t put my finger on it, but the different visual styles for applications, running application, applications with multiple windows and applications with a progress indicator just doesn’t feel right.

- I really don’t get the importance of Aero peek. So what if I can glance on my desktop, why would I want to do that?
- It appears that my battery lasts quite a bit longer. I have no exact figure but I estimate it lasts about 15% longer.
- Probably related to the previous point, but the fan of the laptop doesn’t come on nearly as often as under Vista.
- Multi monitor support has improved somewhat, you can now specify the monitor that gets the start menu. Unfortunately a separate task bar (like Ultramon provides) is still lacking.
- Before installing my main concern was IE8. I don’t know what the fuss is about, but it works just fine.
- The current version of Live Mesh disables Aero, which is very annoying. A patch (to Live Mesh) is promised for the beginning of the new year.
- The retarded Flip 3D is still present. Fortunately the excellent Expose clone that is Switcher works just fine.
- Manually running the Performance Index Calculator left my screen resolution quite low and I couldn’t set it back. A reboot fixed it.
Windows Media Center, which I love, has had a significant update as well.
- Fewer menus to navigate / ignore (good).
- Overall look and feel has been improved.
- Not sure if this is new, but it is now possible to connect to a ‘Recorded TV’ folder on a different system. Unfortunately playing a TV Show that was recorded on my main Vista Media Center system crashed Media Center on Windows 7.
- All frikkin’ Codecs are finally included with Windows. Well, at least Divx is as my ripped DVDs play fine without the need for any 3rd party installers.
- It is beyond me why they still provide different menus for ‘Movie Library’ and ‘Video Library’. Try explaining that difference to my mum.
All in all very good. I will continue to use it until they release the final version this summer.
Updates:
- Tim Sneath has posted a lot of Windows 7 secrets. Very useful.
- Problems reporting feedback on Windows 7? Use this link to add Windows 7 to your Microsoft Connect account.
- Some Windows 7 specific drivers for Microsoft products such as their keyboard, mouse and webcam range of products.
- Completely forgot that you have to install the Windows Mobile Device Center to sync and use your Windows Mobile phone as a modem.