Windows 7
Finally, posting this from Windows 7 with Windows Live Writer 9.
Experience so far : good to great. Install of Windows 7 was a snap. Auto-detected everything on my NC6320, including Bluetooth and wireless.
Boot times are quite a bit faster than my comparative Vista machine, but since this is a ‘clean’ install and my Vista machine is loaded with all kinds of crap, I can’t give that a whole lot of weight.
I’m using AVG for virus scan, which was actually one of the suggestions during the install process. Installed without so much as a single bark. As did Google Chrome, my current browser of choice (for non-Microsoft web sites, of course).
Installing Live Writer took a bit longer, and three passes. It failed completely the first time but invited me to try again, whereupon it went and got a pre-requisite I was missing, then failed again. Third try finally loaded everything I was looking to get. Odd way to go about the process, but I suppose ultimate success is nothing to complain about.
Things noticed :
Right-click on the desktop takes you quickly to Screen Resolution, and even Gadgets. Finally!
Wordpad and Paint have been updated to use the Ribbon interface. Still trying to decide if this is an improvement. Notepad still it’s same old minimal self. I’ve never figured out why Microsoft doesn’t include the functionality of Notepad++ or Crimson Editor in their Notepad.
Under ‘Accessories’ they’ve added ‘Sticky Notes’, which lets you have virtual Post-Its (tm) on your desktop. Not a bad feature for a home user, corporate users likely have something in place for note-taking.
Powershell comes pre-loaded as well.
Note that the beta version identifies itself as “ultimate”, so some things may not make the final cut to whatever version of Windows 7 we end up using. I doubt I’ll be putting this particular version through any paces with SCCM or SCOM in the lab, but that will likely change.
What’s your Win 7 experience been like?