Windows 7 Enhancements

[Jason Dunn]

<p>I noticed something new after I'd installed Windows 7 on my HP Mini 1000 and was getting it configured for use: I was downloading a large file (a printer driver) using IE8, and simultaneously copying a large file from my Windows Home Server. When I minimized all the windows (Windows Key+D), the icons on the task bar became progress indicators so you can see at a glance how each process is doing. Slick!</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1243283416.usr1.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>One of the other enhancements I'm impressed with is how high-performance the video driver is: the HP Mini 1000 uses the Intel GMA945, which is generally considered to be a near-worthless GPU in terms of performance. After running Windows Update on a fresh install of Windows 7, a pre-release driver update for the GMA945 is provided. And after installing that driver, I was amazed to see how smooth all the animations were in Windows 7. Everything from hovering over the taskbar icons and getting the window preview, to hovering over the desktop shortcut on the far right of the taskbar; it was all very smooth. Surprisingly, even flipping through Widnows Media Center was fast and smooth. I should note that this is without any significant amount of content in it, but the basic UI navigation was very smooth, which is something that surprised me.</p><p>Are you using the Windows 7 release candidate? If so, what are some of your favourite features so far? I keep discovering new things the more I use it.</p>

[mrozema]

The install procedure has become a lot more user-friendly (since the days of XP) and the interface much nicer to look at.

One of the first things I did was install Zune software and while downloading the install file, I too, noticed the progress bar integrated into the taskbar icon. Very nice!

I'm considering installing this on a Classmate, just for the heck of it.

[Macguy59]

That is slick and something we have enjoyed in OS X for years. You just convinced me to install the RC on my daughters HP mini 1000

[ptyork]

Jason, do you still have your Dell Studio Hybrid? I wonder if Windows 7 would have made this a usable Media Center PC? I still really love the design and I need a media center PC for my living room (the extender that I bought for down there ain't cutting it). Can you drive HD video through your HP with the GMA945?

Windows 7 is shaping up to be amazing. I've been using it as my primary OS since build 7000 and have had very few issues. I've even gotten my S3 sleep problems solved (for me, I needed to disable hybrid sleep and enable wake on LAN only for "magic" packets, whatever those are). Really great stuff! I love the little touches they are throwing in. Very Apple-like. I guess hiring tons of UX folks really does make a difference.

[Kacey Green]

Jason,
The slickness was something you hinted at in your Mobius wrapup (the recent one) a slide showing how 1 or 50 windows used the same amount of either ram or processing power, I don't remember which.

I also noticed the animations on downloads and copies and transfers.

I used the Vista betas, and up through SP1 and I somehow missed the beta for 7 but the RC is just what I've been looking for. Vista was nice but this is great. Lots more polish and way better performance (perceptibly I understand not that much has changed under the hood, and add to that I'd started transitioning to a WHS at the same time as moving to 7 and that is just amazing)

The only things that took some extra time were the required "we moved and changed some interface elements so you'd know it was an upgrade" items. Some made sense and have sped up my work others don't change anything.

[Bob Christensen]

I'd read that Windows 7 was running pretty well on older hardware, so I decided to install it on my "old" Dell Inspiron 9300 (1.7ghz Mobile Centrino, 1gb ram). Had to hunt down Vista drivers for audio, wireless adapter, touch pad, and video display card (ATI Mobility X300). Couldn't find a display driver, but when I ran Windows Update--surprise! It provided an X300 driver and an update to the Intel wireless driver.

Haven't done much actual work on it yet, but I'm amazed at how smooth and responsive it seems on this laptop--even with Aero turned on.

[randalllewis]

I am more impressed that you are running Windows 7 on an HP Mini 1000. I guess I may buy a portable DVD drive for my Mini after all if I can get 7 to run on it. Any issues other than the video driver you mentioned?

[cmusciano]

I've been running Windows 7 on my Dell Mini 10 and really like it. I've since installed it on a Dell Latitude D630, an Inspiron 1520, and an XPS 15. In every case, it runs faster than Vista with fewer issues. I started at build 7000 but now have everything up to build 7100 (the release candidate).

My biggest complaint is hardly worth noting. Windows Movie Maker Beta in the Windows Live package is awful, much to my son's consternation when he went to finish a school project on his laptop that I had upgraded. Fortunately, you can download and install Windows Movie Maker 2.6 from Vista, which works just fine.

The UI changes are all very nice, and the subtle stuff in Aero really grows on you over time (dragging windows to the edges, moving the taskbar to the left edge, thumbnails, etc). The reduced impact of the UAC is wonderful.

Homegroups are pretty cool, too, and make local sharing so much easier.

Overall, this is a solid OS and what Vista should have been all along.

[Jason Dunn]

Jason, do you still have your Dell Studio Hybrid?

Nope, I returned it for a refund because it wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. I dearly wish Dell had offered it with a better GPU. :(

I wonder if Windows 7 would have made this a usable Media Center PC? I still really love the design and I need a media center PC for my living room (the extender that I bought for down there ain't cutting it).

It's certainly possible...but the Hybrid uses the GMA4500, and I'm not sure if Microsoft has released Windows 7 drivers for it. I'd hope so, but you never know.

Can you drive HD video through your HP with the GMA945?

I haven't tested that, but you made me curious so...

h.264 720p test clip: played PERFECT in Windows Media Player 12...smooth and fluid. Total disaster in VLC, both frame rate problems and quality problems.

WMV 720p test clip: played PERFECT in Windows Media Player 12...smooth and fluid. Total disaster in VLC, no audio, both frame rate problems and quality problems.

WMV 1080p test clip: couldn't keep up, looks like 15fps or so.

So it looks like WMP12 FTW! :D

I've even gotten my S3 sleep problems solved (for me, I needed to disable hybrid sleep and enable wake on LAN only for "magic" packets, whatever those are).

I've noticed that the sleep/resume on my HP Mini 1000 is *very* fast with Windows 7...and that's just with generic drivers. My Dell XPS M1330 is much slower coming out of sleep

[Jason Dunn]

I am more impressed that you are running Windows 7 on an HP Mini 1000. I guess I may buy a portable DVD drive for my Mini after all if I can get 7 to run on it. Any issues other than the video driver you mentioned?

There are no issues with the video driver - that was one of the things that impressed me about Windows 7 on the Mini 1000. I'd say the only thing negative I've noticed with Windows 7 on the Mini 1000 is that the system fan seems to run quite often...thankfully the fan is rather quiet.

[Jason Dunn]

My biggest complaint is hardly worth noting. Windows Movie Maker Beta in the Windows Live package is awful, much to my son's consternation when he went to finish a school project on his laptop that I had upgraded.

I know what you mean - the current Windows Live Movie Maker beta is really lame. I can say with some authority that future versions are much, much better. :)

[Eriq Cook]

I know what you mean - the current Windows Live Movie Maker beta is really lame. I can say with some authority that future versions are much, much better. :)

In the meantime you can download the older, fully functional version of WMM directly from Microsoft:

http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/Miss-the-Old-Movie-Maker-Get-it-Back-on-Windows-7/

[marvi1]

I also noticed that, in addition to the progress bar on the icon, you can also see that the icon is stacked with the number of open windows of the app.

[danielchiang]

I'm not sure if anyone else had noticed, but if you double click on the top or bottom edge of any window (when the window is not expanded) and when the cursor is the double headed arrow (up/down), the window will span the full height of the screen.

Neat feature...won't be used too much, but nice touch from the Win7 developers.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Yes, that's one of the features touted in Windows 7.

Since I don't like my windows to stack, I'm using the old-school taskbar with labels on them. They still show the progress bar indicator if there's one.

Now if only Opera and Firefox took advantage of that.

[Kacey Green]

and Chrome too