[...]Scot’s Newsletter Blog » Blog Archive » Windows 7 Beta 1: I’m not impressed[...]…

[...]Scot’s Newsletter Blog » Blog Archive » Windows 7 Beta 1: I’m not impressed[...]…

[...]Scot’s Newsletter Blog » Blog Archive » Windows 7 Beta 1: I’m not impressed[...]…

Scot’s Newsletter Blog » Blog Archive » Windows 7 Beta 1: I’m not impressed…

Might be more effective to post that sort of sentiment there. Just a thought.

FWIW, I only use virtual machines to test user experience and expand my pool of testbeds to check for variability. I would never objectively test a virtual machine for performance. Frankly, though, performance testing of operating systems is a bit of a myth. None of your favorite reviewers is performance testing in any meaningful way. And even the few publications who do attempt this wind up with questionable data, IMO. The performance test is the experience of millions in the real world. It’s the only one that matters.

Another point about virtualization: Windows 7′s ability to run well in virtual machines is something that I hold Microsoft (as well as the virtualization software makers) accountable for. So testing in virtual machines is a good thing, just not performance testing.

Give me raw hardware numbers, and I’ll have a basis for comparison.

How about a comparison of Windows 7 and the Mac running on the same computer? Read on.

Bottom line, Windows 7 is beta software. I don’t do final performance testing on beta software. So what you’re reading is first impressions. Try to get that in your mind. This is not scientific. And nothing you read that tries to be scientific about Windows 7 is truly meaningful.

– Scot

On the same day you posted, Microsoft announced that it would offer XP upgrades to Windows 7. What they mean by that is that there will be a discount on the price of Windows 7 for anyone who has an existing and valid Windows XP installation. You will have to clean install Windows 7 and reinstall all your applications. (One of my favorite features about the Mac is that you can do a clean install of Mac OS X and then import all of your application installations from another machine or your bootable backup or Time Machine backup of your previous installation. It’s a powerful advantage.)

As to pricing, or, I think special pricing for Vista owners, which was the main thrust of your comment: Pricing is one of the very last things Microsoft reveals about any new operating system that it develops. We will likely hear about that a few weeks before Windows 7 ships.

Would it be smart for Microsoft to offer an early-bird, special discount for current Vista owners? Yes, I fully agree that would be smart. The 1990s version of Microsoft would have definitely considered it. But Microsoft is not very end-user focused anymore. It is possible, though. Certainly, the utter failure of Vista in the marketplace warrants that. I think it’s more likely, though, that the software giant will develop some sort of discount or incentives for its enterprise customers to upgrade from Windows XP.

Microsoft will be very focused on trying to kill XP once Windows 7 is done. Its Windows sales have been very poor over the last few years, and it needs to convert as many customers as it can.

One final point: At a $50 price point to upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7 Pro, Microsoft would still rake in plenty of profit. As a temporary (say 60 or 90 days) move, it would gain the company a lot of good will, and if Windows 7 is a healed version of Vista, that would be well worth the initial loss of profit over the long haul.

– Scot

Sorry I did not add any tech input but I truly feel this-as a start would truly have been a good move while also maintaining ears open for those such as Scott that are testing and providing true feedback that will most certainly make a difference..

Something that you might be interested in:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/342-show-us-your-wei-16.html#post10171

I posted there about a tweak I found because of W7 enabling NCQ by default, when some of us have it *disabled* or do not have the option to enable it. Lo and behold, performance increased *dramatically*. If you continue to read on in the thread, however, there are cases where this works and cases where it does not – further review has shown that this seems to occur almost exclusively on Seagate / Maxtor drives, and is able to be changed if you have an nForce based motherboard – installing the nForce 6/7 drivers will go a long way to allowing you to change this option. I cannot confirm this will work 100% on nForce 6 based motherboards, but it should work (and work well) on nForce 7 motherboards.

Why? Let me put it this way, if someone pointed a gun at my head and said: Install Vista or Windows 7, I would have no hesitation in selecting Windows 7 right now.

Besides, you never know … maybe I’m a disgruntled Mac user now. . My point of reference is very different from that of many Windows-only users.

Seriously, I think every beta-experienced XP and Vista user should give Windows 7 a try (not installing as an upgrade on your production machine, though). Form your own opinion.

Again, it’s not that Windows 7 is so bad. It just offers less improvement than I think is sufficient to get me excited about it.

But I’ll keep trying it.

– Scot

I was planning to try the Win 7 beta on an old Intel P3 notebook. But, if Win 7 is just Vista with it’s bangs trimmed and it’s shirt pressed, that ain’t gonna work.

To say that I hate Vista is putting it much too mildly. If Windows 7 resembles Vista in any way, I will either cling to XP until Microsoft gets it right, install Linux (Ubuntu) or attempt to inject my lovely new Core 2 Quad machine with a Mac OS. I’ve been reading up on this last option, but I’m not sure I’m ready for the challenge.

The last thing I want is another operating system that is an overly complicated, overly bloated resource hog running a hundred background services with such cryptic descriptions that the friggin’ KGB couldn’t decode them. I am more convinced than ever that Microsoft is just a bunch of geeky twits who think the public are too stupid to see a new coat of paint on last year’s clunker.

I appreciate your review of the Win 7 beta and will be watching for updates. Thanks!

Read the story I wrote again. I’m not saying there are serious problems with Windows 7. I’m saying there aren’t any significant improvements. Of course people are saying “it’s fast.” Most of them have just clean installed a new version of Windows and they’re comparing it with their Vista experience, which is laden down with a blizzard of background services.

What I’m saying (apparently not that well) is that Windows 7 has the same problems as Vista. If you’ve got the latest, greatest super-fast PC, you won’t notice that so much. In my story, I’m not just comparing Windows 7 to Vista. I’m comparing it to OS X and Linux — both of which are incredibly fast compared to any version of Windows, even XP. What’s more, I’m comparing Windows 7 to XP because I still use that version of Windows.

Microsoft is touting Windows 7 as being leaner and meaner. I’m saying: Don’t believe that in Beta 1. I did see signs of that in the November preview code release. And it got my attention. Unfortunately that hasn’t continued into Beta 1.

Microsoft is as much in the business of selling new hardware as it is selling software. As I wrote in the conclusion of the story, Windows is perennially overtaxed. Each new major release seems to begin with the design premise that the OS can expand its footprint and suck up major portions of the available computing power toward the top end of the current hardware spectrum. Why does Windows continue to become more and more complicated with every major new release?

Ever notice that we always smirk at Microsoft’s minimum system requirements? They’re always a joke? No one even talks about that with Linux. And no one talks about performance issues with the Mac, using the same hardware nowadays that Windows users get. That’s an important distinction that longtime Windows users rarely pause and consider.

If you’ve been using Windows as an OS exclusively for the last 5 years or more, do yourself a favor: Install Ubuntu for a trial run or rent a Mac for a month. At the very least, I promise that either experience will be an eye-opener in the area of system performance and reliability

– Scot

Bruce