Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Abandoning Windows 7 Beta
I'm abandoning the Windows 7 Beta. It's an inevitable decision and has probably been obvious all along as there is simply no point in using a host machine running Vista for *any* feature-rich VM if it has only 2GB of memory.
It's certainly possible to use Vista and VMware Player for a lite Linux distro, or an XP installation that is content to work with 512MB. But expecting a new MS operating system to run fast and mean on a Vista host ... well, that's a leap of faith.
And since Vista is my host OS, it pretty much kyboshes the idea of running W7 at all in Beta. I'm most certainly not going to install a time-bomb OS on either of my production machines, and my sandbox machine is currently awaiting a new hard drive. Actually, scratch that, it has only 1GB of RAM.
It's not a difficult or heart-wrenching decision to abandon the W7 Beta. I liked the wallpapers, if that's any consolation. Had it been an OS that looked like it would make up for all the many, many things that are evidently wrong with Vista, like being able to run with 1GB of memory as I originally assigned to the VM, then I'd have been ready to invest time and effort in installing software, playing with the OS and getting a feel for how it could change my life.
Instead I'm just frustrated. And I still don't think a Mac is the answer either.
It's certainly possible to use Vista and VMware Player for a lite Linux distro, or an XP installation that is content to work with 512MB. But expecting a new MS operating system to run fast and mean on a Vista host ... well, that's a leap of faith.
And since Vista is my host OS, it pretty much kyboshes the idea of running W7 at all in Beta. I'm most certainly not going to install a time-bomb OS on either of my production machines, and my sandbox machine is currently awaiting a new hard drive. Actually, scratch that, it has only 1GB of RAM.
It's not a difficult or heart-wrenching decision to abandon the W7 Beta. I liked the wallpapers, if that's any consolation. Had it been an OS that looked like it would make up for all the many, many things that are evidently wrong with Vista, like being able to run with 1GB of memory as I originally assigned to the VM, then I'd have been ready to invest time and effort in installing software, playing with the OS and getting a feel for how it could change my life.
Instead I'm just frustrated. And I still don't think a Mac is the answer either.
Labels: tech, virtualization, Vista, w7, Windows7
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Topping up my iodine levels
My week-long trip to the Pacific North-West of the US concludes with a trip out to Sequim (pron. "Squim") on Washington State's north coast - facing out over the Juan de Fuca over towards Victoria in Canada's British Columbia, and the San Juan islands. The windswept beach provided a great opportunity to test Microsoft's Photosynth - with a 360-degree panorama compiled from 200 individual images.
Although Photosynth did not manage a 100 percent "synthy" this time around, I'm pretty pleased with the result.
Although Photosynth did not manage a 100 percent "synthy" this time around, I'm pretty pleased with the result.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
W7 VM on a NAS drive
Success! I have the VM of Windows7 running on one of my home NAS network drives. Sweet. This means I can use a single VM image of 7 with all the machines connected to my network. The result is less maintenance, more time to play. I like that idea.
Labels: w7
W7 with networking
Okay, it was my fault: no way could W7 detect disabled VMware drivers. So I enabled the drivers and booted from the ISO. Under an hour later, Windows 7 was up and running, complete with network connectivity!Here's a glimpse of the desktop. No doubt we'll eventually get as sick of the sight of that fish as most people are of the tree and hillside in the XP default wallpaper.
Labels: Windows7
Monday, January 12, 2009
Seven update
After Friday's fiasco, with supply unable to meet demand, Microsoft managed to get the public beta of Windows 7 under way, making the software available for download quietly on Sunday. After an overnight download (the ISO is 2.43GB, which takes a couple of hours on a 2meg DSL connection) and burning the DVD, I was able to successfully install the 32-bit version into a virtual machine without problems.
However ... where's the beef? At first glance, 7 is little more than SP2 for Vista. It's got some extra wizards, which may or may not be a good thing, moving forwards. At least the dreaded User Account Control seems to be less intrusive. I haven't come across it yet.
One nice touch that's already impressed is the opportunity to change desktop / display / screensaver / theme settings all in one.
Regarding the greatest bugbears, bloat and performance, it's quite hard to tell straight away in a VM if 7 is going to be any better. On the positive side, the fact that it ran and was usable at all with 1GB of RAM is an achievement, this was never possible with Vista. Of course the downside was that by sharing half my RAM, the host Vista machine became unusable ... but then during my test sessions it will be only that: a host.
More soon.
However ... where's the beef? At first glance, 7 is little more than SP2 for Vista. It's got some extra wizards, which may or may not be a good thing, moving forwards. At least the dreaded User Account Control seems to be less intrusive. I haven't come across it yet.
One nice touch that's already impressed is the opportunity to change desktop / display / screensaver / theme settings all in one.
Regarding the greatest bugbears, bloat and performance, it's quite hard to tell straight away in a VM if 7 is going to be any better. On the positive side, the fact that it ran and was usable at all with 1GB of RAM is an achievement, this was never possible with Vista. Of course the downside was that by sharing half my RAM, the host Vista machine became unusable ... but then during my test sessions it will be only that: a host.
More soon.
Labels: tech, virtualization, Windows7
Saturday, January 10, 2009
W7 - the beta farce
Windows 7 isn't in Beta phase, it's in Beta farce! Blaming unexpectedly high traffic to their website, Microsoft pulled the plug on the 2.5 million public Beta downloads of W7 yesterday. Hardly a great start.
It clearly shows there's pent-up demand for a better version of Windows. XP was OK, but Vista was supposed to be better. In some ways it is, but it's also bloated and over-complicated. So Microsoft has wisely decided to cut bait, even before Vista SP2 is upon us, by pushing through the next-generation OS, Windows 7.
At least I hope it's the next-generation and not a poorly-disguised Vista SP2.
Disappointing to have to wait a little longer for the public Beta of 7. Let's hope it is worth it.
It clearly shows there's pent-up demand for a better version of Windows. XP was OK, but Vista was supposed to be better. In some ways it is, but it's also bloated and over-complicated. So Microsoft has wisely decided to cut bait, even before Vista SP2 is upon us, by pushing through the next-generation OS, Windows 7.
At least I hope it's the next-generation and not a poorly-disguised Vista SP2.
Disappointing to have to wait a little longer for the public Beta of 7. Let's hope it is worth it.
Labels: virtualization, Vista, Windows7
Friday, January 09, 2009
Waiting for Windows 7
I'm taking the bait and will be trying to download the first public beta of Windows 7 once it's available later today. My first installation will be within a VM enviroment, since it's taken me ages to work towards a very functional, stable version of Vista.
I'll post some updates in the coming days.
I'll post some updates in the coming days.
Labels: virtualization, Vista, Windows7
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Freeeezing cold!
Here's one of my favorite fountains in Munich, adorned with icicles. It's actually one of the few fountains in the city that isn't switched off and boarded up for the winter.Labels: weather
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