If I Wanted the Linux Experience, I'd Run Linux!
Ever since Microsoft started giving away beta versions of Windows 7 (the successor to Vista), I've been running it on one or both of my computers at home. It's been wonderful. It turns on fast, all the security is unobtrusive, the UI is all slick and pretty, power settings are easy to manage, and I can watch me my online TV. For the most part everything just works. Buying a whole bunch of MSFT stock was starting to seem like a great plan.
Was.
On July 1 the original beta ran out and we all needed to upgrade to the "release candidate" version. I upgraded. Now:
* Startup works about like Vista - relatively fast, but with some post loading after the UI is displayed that makes the UI pulse in and out of being responsive.
* With the default settings, closing the lid puts the machine to sleep. Great, except, the speakers won't make any more sound after it wakes up (until I reboot).
* I have no way to compare, but the security seems different. Now I have a bunch of disabled options that I can't edit unless I click a "Change settings that are currently unavailable" link. (shown below) That's it, just click the link. It's like a "do it" button. Annoying.
* (my favorite) I don't know what system event is causing it, but my computer now makes a noise seemingly randomly spaced anywhere from 10 s to 5 min apart. It's the sound you get when you plug in a mouse, but unplugging everything didn't stop the noise. We watch most of our TV on hulu.com or the network sites (ABC, NBC, etc) so the only real solution to that one is to go in and disable system sounds until I find one that kills the glitch.
* The whole experience is like running Linux. It's a wrestling match to get anything to work. An example of the page I get when I try to watch ABC's full episodes is shown below.
* After I set it up yesterday, I had what I think of as the Ubuntu Linux experience: I had a stable, working system. Then, I installed a bunch of updates. The updates crashed, I had to reboot, and I think that's when my sound problems started. *ug* (The Ubuntu thing was similar, only it killed my wireless so I suddenly couldn't look for a solution on the web.)
* The "Send Feedback" link has been removed from the top of all the windows, so the only way I know of to send feedback now is to blog all mean-like.
There's one big caveat to this. I ran the 32-bit version for the beta and I'm currently running the 64-bit version of the release candidate. That means it's not completely apples to apples. I'm gonna strip off this crud tonight and put on the 32-bit version of the release candidate to see if I can improve my lot.
Anyway, the 7 beta was awesome and the new release candidate is adequate. I'm sad. I have high hopes for the switch to 32-bit.
Was.
On July 1 the original beta ran out and we all needed to upgrade to the "release candidate" version. I upgraded. Now:
* Startup works about like Vista - relatively fast, but with some post loading after the UI is displayed that makes the UI pulse in and out of being responsive.
* With the default settings, closing the lid puts the machine to sleep. Great, except, the speakers won't make any more sound after it wakes up (until I reboot).
* I have no way to compare, but the security seems different. Now I have a bunch of disabled options that I can't edit unless I click a "Change settings that are currently unavailable" link. (shown below) That's it, just click the link. It's like a "do it" button. Annoying.
* (my favorite) I don't know what system event is causing it, but my computer now makes a noise seemingly randomly spaced anywhere from 10 s to 5 min apart. It's the sound you get when you plug in a mouse, but unplugging everything didn't stop the noise. We watch most of our TV on hulu.com or the network sites (ABC, NBC, etc) so the only real solution to that one is to go in and disable system sounds until I find one that kills the glitch.
* The whole experience is like running Linux. It's a wrestling match to get anything to work. An example of the page I get when I try to watch ABC's full episodes is shown below.
* After I set it up yesterday, I had what I think of as the Ubuntu Linux experience: I had a stable, working system. Then, I installed a bunch of updates. The updates crashed, I had to reboot, and I think that's when my sound problems started. *ug* (The Ubuntu thing was similar, only it killed my wireless so I suddenly couldn't look for a solution on the web.)
* The "Send Feedback" link has been removed from the top of all the windows, so the only way I know of to send feedback now is to blog all mean-like.
There's one big caveat to this. I ran the 32-bit version for the beta and I'm currently running the 64-bit version of the release candidate. That means it's not completely apples to apples. I'm gonna strip off this crud tonight and put on the 32-bit version of the release candidate to see if I can improve my lot.
Anyway, the 7 beta was awesome and the new release candidate is adequate. I'm sad. I have high hopes for the switch to 32-bit.
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