Microsoft Almost Gets It Right

I've used Microsoft Windows in its many iterations since the early 90's, and for the most part found it tolerable, with the exception of Millennium, which ranks with the Titanic and Hindenburg as one of the great technology disasters of the century. I'm a self admitted geek who enjoys tinkering with hardware and software, sometimes with nightmarish consequences, but details. I found Windows XP to be the best of Microsoft's operating systems, as it was more stable, (stable being a relative term), more flexible and easier to customize than its predecessors.

My laptop came with Vista preinstalled, and it took a lot of tweaks to get it to run the way I wanted. It also has some issues with stability and odd quirks like timing out my internet connection if I don't do something like click on a weblink every 15 minutes, though that could also be HP's way of saying their tech support in Bangalore is lonely and they want me to call.

So I was curious but not terribly excited when Windows 7 was announced. Curiosity got me to download a beta version. I installed it in Virtual PC on my desktop, (another Microsoft product, and a freebie, that allows one to set up a virtual computer inside an existing operating system. It actually works quite well). It looked nice and didn't have any horrendous compatibility problems with my most important software.

Then last week a new beta, or to be accurate, release candidate, was available for download. This time I went for the 64 bit version, to finally take advantage of the 64 bit cpu AMD so proudly released several years ago. I also set my desktop up for dual boot, and fortunately I have two hard drives so Windows 7 and XP could have their own homes.

To be honest, I'm rather impressed. The computer certainly runs faster in Windows 7, there have been no issues with stability, and my existing software runs either at the same pace as in XP or in some cases, such as my ancient version of Office, runs faster. The only disappointment is it will not run older 16 bit programs, such as some of my games, or my ancient but still favorite word processor, PFS Works. However, I successfully installed Sun's VirtualBox, another virtual computer program, then installed Windows 2000, which will run my old programs.

So why VirtualBox instead of Virtual PC? Well, the existing version of Virtual PC doesn't run in Windows 7. However, there is a new beta version that does. And it includes Windows XP so older programs can run. So why am I not using it? I can't on my desktop. Unfortunately, the new Virtual PC requires a bios setting for Hardware Virtualization. I built my desktop before that was available. So to take full advantage of Windows 7 when it's released commercially, I'll need a new motherboard that has Hardware Virtualization. This will also mean a new cpu since my existing one won't work with a new motherboard. Neither will the memory, or much of anything else. So I'll be looking at building a new computer.

And afterwards, the hope will be it'll all be worth it.