So far, it looks like Vista.
Starts up a hell of a lot faster, though.
F-Secure installs OK…
Doesn’t like my graphics card very much, but big surprise, it’s an old Matrox card (Millenium G550) that they don’t seem to have anything but a generic driver for. I still get 1280×1024 out of it. Ah, wait…it was in the optional updates under Windows Update. I’ll try that. Anyway, box specs:
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz (single core)
Memory: 2GB DDR SDRAM
Video: Matrox Millenium G550 in AGP
Board: Intel D845GEBV2
Chipset: Intel 845GE
It’s an older box that used to be my Win2K server. I had Windows 2008 Server running on it but pulled that drive so I could try Windows 7.
Had a problem with 1280×1024 video mode but I suspect that’s either a driver issue or just an inability of the G550 to handle it properly. The screen shifted to the right about an inch and I couldn’t force the monitor to adjust it back to the left. Like I say, though, I don’t think that’s a Windows issue. Switching it back to 1024×768 solved the problem. If this were the Real Thing and not a beta, I’d be installing on more modern equipment anyway — but I run Vista (under protest) on similar P4 equipment in one of my volunteer Masonic secretary jobs and I can say with confidence that Windows 7 is running a lot faster and smoother than Vista ever did.
I should probably pull the Matrox card and try the onboard video, but I was never that impressed with it. On the other hand I think I put the Matrox in this box when Windows Server 2008 refused to recognize the onboard video 🙂 so maybe Windows 7 is more forgiving.
I’ll keep updating this post if new stuff comes to light. I have yet to install any application packages, but that will probably happen this weekend.
More below the jump.
OK, I got curious, so I logged into the Vista box I use under protest, and here is a comparison of the “Windows Experience Index” between the two.
| Component | Vista Box | Windows 7 Box |
| Processor | 4.2 | 3.2 |
| Memory | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Graphics | 1.9 | 1.0 |
| Gaming Graphics | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Disk data transfer rate | 5.4 | 5.4 |
Almost identical, right? The HP box with Vista has a P4 3.0GHz compared to my machine’s 2.4, and has 1GB RAM compared to my machines 2GB RAM, and its graphics (as far as Aero is concerned) are a little better.
But the Vista box takes 5 minutes to boot and five minutes to log in after that. (Actual timed bootup and login.)
The Windows 7 box boots in less than a minute and I log right in.
Hmm.
I think this might be a Macintrash killer.