No Windows 7 drivers turn Dell M1330 into a doorstop

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

At last year’s PDC (Professional Developers Conference), Microsoft handed out shiny new laptops preloaded with the then-new build of Windows 7 to the press corps. It ensured that no-one would get hung-up on installation issues, because each machine was ready to go. Plus it gave the press a machine each to try the various beta builds as it progressed.

I confess that mine stayed in its bag, because I preferred to test both in virtual machines and on my own known hardware. But over the weekend, I was tempted to unpack the laptop and try it with final Windows 7 code.

The laptop is pretty decent — a Dell XPS M1330 with a big battery, 4GB of ram and a decent hard disk. Quite a good workhorse, I think you would agree.

So this morning, in went the Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD. Naturally, I decided to wipe the hard disk and start again from scratch. Once the install was done, there was a bunch of things to download from the Microsoft website via the Windows Update service.

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Is Windows 7 good looking enough to sway an Apple fan?

Friday, October 30th, 2009

In the latest part of our experiment to see whether Windows 7 can convert a hardened Mac user, Chris Brennan debates the perennial question of fashion over function

As a Mac user I’m aware that one of the criticisms often levelled at those of us who use Apple computers is that we’re merely interested in how things look. For some I suppose it’s true, but when I sit in a coffee shop using my Mac it’s not because I want women to swoon at my stylish good-looking computer and men to be envious of my unibody – it’s because my broadband has broken.

That said, Apple is clearly a design driven organisation and this sometimes leads to compromises that don’t seem to make sense, non-removable batteries being a case in point. The same is true of its interfaces, with Apple often trying to marry utility with good looks. As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been to a few Steve Jobs keynotes and a couple of things stand out for me. He says beautiful, simple and powerful an awful lot, and while pie chart segments look nice, they don’t necessarily reflect the figures they represent.

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Windows 7 is faster than Snow Leopard

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

In the latest part of our experiment to see whether Windows 7 can convert a hardened Mac user, Chris Brennan has a stunning confession to make

I’ve never really been all that bothered by having the fastest computer. That’s mainly because I type for a living and, no matter how fast the processor, my fingers can only go so quickly and my mind is most certainly single-paced. A few years back Apple made a lot of noise about how much faster the PowerPC chip was than the equivalent Intel, they made adverts you may remember with snails and tanks. Those adverts were more about speaking to the base than truly selling faster computers, but to be fair by some measures the PowerPC was nippier.

I can’t say I was all that bothered by the claims and, besides, Apple then decided that it had been wrong about the PowerPC and moved the entire OS to Intel. I was at the keynote when Steve Jobs announced the move to Intel – the funny thing about that announcement? The Apple faithful whooped and cheered as if they knew that’d been the plan all along. Sometimes they scare and befuddle me too, and I’m one of them.

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How to install Windows 7 on the new 27in iMac

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Windows 7 isn’t officially supported in Boot Camp just yet, but that doesn’t stop it working a treat most of the time. We have it installed on one of the new MacBooks in the Labs, but the gigantic 27in iMac proved to be much more problematic (we’ll have a full review of the monster in question later this week).

The problem occurs after the main Windows 7 installation has taken place. The system reboots, the Windows 7 logo circles into life and the desktop should appear – but all you get is blackness. The system is still running – press the Caps Lock key and you’ll see the light ping on – but you can’t see anything, indicating a problem with the iMac’s ATI graphics drivers.

Fear not, though. If you’ve just blown £1,350 on this beautiful beast and are now scratching your head as to why you can’t get it working, there is a workaround to crowbar Windows 7 onto it. (more…)

The worst part of Windows 7? Internet Explorer

Monday, October 26th, 2009

In the latest instalment of our experiment to see whether Windows 7 can convert a hardened Mac user, Chris Brennan tries to get to grips with Internet Explorer

A few years ago I really, really liked Internet Explorer for Mac, but Steve Jobs called Bill Gates a sissy and the Macintosh business unit in Redmond ceased making it. That’s what I was told happened anyway. So it’s been a few years since I used IE in anger.

The Internet is central to what I do professionally and, for better or worse, where I get most of my news and a good chunk of my entertainment, too. On my Mac I use Safari and, I’m not just saying this, it suits me fine. It’s not the greatest thing since sliced bread and neither is it full of magic and ponies.

However, I’ve found Internet Explorer on Windows 7 to be a pain in the proverbial: slow, stuttering and prone to crashing. In all, IE is just a bit rubbish. In fact, so far IE has been the only part of my Windows 7 experience that’s been anything less than moderately good. Perhaps it’s my Apple-centric way of working, but Internet Explorer simply isn’t a tool I’d trust to get me through the day.

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The Windows 7 retail experience

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

No, I didn’t get up early for the Windows 7 launch and no, I didn’t queue – though clearly, by the time I staggered to my nearest PC World, there had been some sort of stampede of the faithful.  They must have been frightfully early too because just before lunchtime, I was out of luck if I wanted a boxed copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.

My intention is to install Windows 7 on a pristine drive in a machine whose previous install (of Vista Business, according to the sticker) was as lost to me as the hard disk it had lived on. This is not the method you will hear most about, because the vast majority of people are assumed to be brave enough to just throw the Windows 7 upgrade DVD into their solitary home PC and just let the dice fall as they may.  Or, as the banners at PC World proclaimed, get a new PC, which just happens to have Windows 7 preinstalled on it.

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Sorry, Windows, but where’s the PDF reader?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Sometimes life throws up its little ironies, and while they don’t necessarily make you laugh out loud they do cause the corner of your mouth to curl slightly into a grin and an eyebrow to rise just a bit. Today was one such occasion.

As a Mac user I’m told that one of the disadvantages I suffer is that I don’t have access to industry standard software or the sheer range of applications PC users enjoy. The fact that I’ve never, not once, been unable to find software to help me achieve whatever I’ve needed to is immaterial.

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Can Windows 7 convert a Mac user?

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

So PC Pro has set me a challenge. As a Mac user since system 6, as someone who’s stuck by Apple through two major architecture shifts, does Windows 7 have what it takes to lure me into the land of the IBM-compatible PC?

For the next month I’m putting away my Macs to use Microsoft Windows 7. For the record, I do use Windows XP on a monthly basis, but it’s never tempted me to sell on my MacBook. I’ve used Vista fleetingly, and have to say I’m surprised at the bad press it’s received, but again it wouldn’t encourage me to drop the Mac OS.

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Windows 7: the licensing mess continues

Monday, October 19th, 2009

There’s a fabulous new document on Microsoft TechNet entitled “The 10 Things to Do First for Windows 7″, which is an excellent checklist on what you need to think about doing in your organisation before you move to Windows 7.

I was particularly thrilled to read “Section 3: Plow through licensing”.

Now maybe I am just being a stick-in-the-mud, and I accept it is a Monday morning and I have a headache, but my headache is made worse by reading this:

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Acer 3D laptop review: first look

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Acer wasn’t satisfied with just unveiling the dual-booting Android and Windows 7 netbook at today’s global press conference: it also revealed the world’s first mainstream 3D laptop, the Acer Aspire 5738PG (at this point, I should point out to Acer that if Apple launched a 3D laptop it probably wouldn’t give it a terrible name like 5738PG).

(And before any pedants jump in to point out to me that, actually, all laptops are 3D – yes, I know.)

The background you see above is, actually, really in 3D. That is, it uses a combination of software, hardware and specially coated glass (if you’d like more detail than this hazy description, we wrote a whole feature dedicated to the future of 3D a few months ago), and you then have to watch the image using the polarised glasses supplied.

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