Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Windows 7 - Woo Me!!!!!

As an informed computer user I am always looking at the latest and greatest. My current platform of choice is Mac OSX on a previous generation 15"MacBook Pro (the one before the unibody system). Prior to that my primary production system was a Windows Vista system produced by HP (didn't stick around long) and prior to that was my favorite laptop of all time - the 12" PowerBook. That being said - please do not confuse me with an a-typical apple fanboy because I am not. I enjoy using Mac OSX and will continue to do so for the considerable future. In recent years I have nudged people toward OSX over Windows because of Vista. Vista was a decent operating system - BUT ... there is always the ever present "but." ... but it is a memory hog and has compatibility issues and it doesn't run well in VMWare, and it won't run on a netbook. Those are a lot of buts! Enter Windows 7. A few months back I installed the first public Beta of Windows 7 on my Mac using VMWare (I currently run Windows XP for my album making software on VMWare) I liked the layout; however, I was not really impressed with the speed on my computer. Now granted it was running on a virtual box and on 1GB ram but it still did not replace XP for my use. I just loaded Windows 7 RC (release candidate) and WOW! Super fast, super slick. I have been using it all morning and I am amazed. You have got to go check this OS out. FINALLY OSX has some real true competition in the operating system market again. I am not saying I will be trading in my MacBook Pro for a windows based system; however, I will be keeping a close eye on it and ditching XP from my virtual system when Win 7 ships.

UPDATE: A little perspective... I have not been simultaneously surprised and impressed by an OS since I originally saw Steve Jobs (in all his "Reality Distortion Field" goodness) present Panther and WWDC 2004. I had never looked at a Mac or really use an apple computer before. I remember this feeling of awe and wonder. This was it - my next computer. Looking at Windows 7 I am feeling the same vibe. My wife is in the market for a new machine. I am seriously considering picking up a clearance Dell or Gateway and loading Windows 7 on it.