Mike Wilks' Blog

I haven’t really spent too much time using Windows 7 Beta but that time I have spent has been good. My impression so far is pretty much the same as my initial reaction, it is like a cleaner, faster Vista with less clutter.

I guess it is quite an achievement that Windows 7 Beta works well on my MacBook under VMWare Fusion. The only problem I have had with this setup is when I have external screen connected. I can run Vista quite happily when I have another screen attached, either full-screen on the laptop or the external display – but not Windows 7. The Beta gets very upset when there is an external screen attached, especially when you try and change resolution or move Fusion from one screen to the other. The symptoms of this are bluescreens and frozen VMWare.
I can’t imagine I’m going to continue with Windows 7 after the Beta expires but you can never really tell. I have a Vista install that I use for anything that needs Windows and this will probably be enough. That said I have a handful of OSs running in VMWare on my MacBook including various Linuxes.

I’m not sure I can see what the fuss is about with Windows 7 Beta.

I downloaded it from MS and installed it in VMWare Fusion on my MacBook. The fact that worked at all is pretty impressive, but I’m not particularly struck by the OS itself. As far as I can see it is pretty much the same as Vista except the run command is not there by default. I am sure there are more differences but I haven’t really come cross them yet. I installed it out of curiousity and I might use it more later but there is not real reason for me to other than just to play.