Adios Vista, Hello Windows 7.....

So, it has been about a week or so that I have been using the Windows 7 beta(32 bit), and I have to say, it's not your parents Windows.

I made the switch to Mac about four or five years ago because I just hated Windows. While I may not be Geek Squad quality, I do have an above average understanding of computers, so I'll take some of the blame for Windows running bad, but I don't know many people who love Windows. Since then, I have become what many would say is an Apple fan boy. Two Macs, many iPods, iPhone and iPhone 3G. With that said, two recent developments have made me rethink my loyalty to Apple and their computers.

The first thing, and the thing that is really bugging me, is how you have to update ALL of your songs in iTunes at once to make them DRM free. The last thing I feel like doing in this time of economic crisis, is spend $110 to update my iTunes library to iTunes Plus. Since Apple announced this, there has been a new policy for users of iTunes to accept, and I refuse to. So not only I have I not upgraded, I have not bought any songs, apps or moives/TV shows. Nor am I able to update my applications for my iPhone. So, I update the apps threw the App Store on my phone and hope MobileMe is stable and won't lose my contacts so I can keep syncing while bypassing iTunes sync. I know for some, this may be a small issue, but it just rubs me the wrong way.

The second reason, and maybe the bigger reason for the possible change, is Windows Vista(yes I said Vista) and the beta of Windows 7(which I am not sure is really a new OS instead of a major update to Vista). I was running Vista on boot camp only for a few weeks, and when the Windows 7 beta was released, I decided to run Windows 7 in boot camp and Parallels. First impressions are this is Vista with a new outside and some new features and improvements. I have loaded all the same programs and apps on 7 as I had on Vista, and all the versions are Vista versions and they run with no problems. The only problem I have had with 7 was sound on the initial install. All I did after reading a few forums was download and install the Nvidia R2.12 driver, and sound was there. And my late 2007 MBP has a Windows Experience score of 5.0, so all the features of 7 are there.

I am actually enjoying using Windows for the first time. I have tweaked out Firefox with a stylish code that I messed with and the extension glasser to get the glass look above(to get glasser to work in 3.1b2, you will need to install Mr Tech in stable release of Firefox and create an account on Mozilla to override version check). Besides computers, all my electronic components have always been Sony, so maybe it is time to give a Vaio notebook a try. Plus, I can get a notebook with a Blu ray drive, a market that Apple is slow to enter, which probably has something to do with iTunes and AppleTv. Maybe the answer is getting an iMac and a Vaio for basically the same price as a loaded new MBP.

Anyway, Windows 7 , IMO, will change the way people use and enjoy Windows. But, if you have problems with Vista, you will have problems with 7. If you enjoy Vista, then you will really enjoy 7. Oh, I am using 7 to post this.