After a couple of weeks of trying out Windows 7 Release Candidate, I said hello to an old friend...the infamous "Blue Screen of Death." That was while trying to get a HP PSC 1350 working with it. The printer, by the way, still won't work with it...although the scanning part DOES.
 
I've also gotten the update-only pack for Snow Leopard. I've been using that roughly a week. At the same time I've read some hilarious stuff about Snow Leopard supposedly being Apple's "Vista."
 
I tend to think Windows fanboys are really stretching trying to make such a comparison. Snow Leopard on my aluminium 13" Macbook is doing quite nicely. So nicely I'm STILL enjoying working with a Mac. Way more than I ever enjoyed various flavors of Windows over the years.
 
In the difficulty stakes...I had Fedora 10 Linux installed into Virtualbox and used the Additions iso to get a screen size bigger than 800x600. Unfortunately, due to something that's probably more traceable to that Virtualbox Additions part, my Fedora log-in screen has some video corruption where everything is bunched up and where there's three login dialogues through all the haze.
 
Now, before Linux detractors start whingeing...all I have to do is a blind login. I hit the return key, I type in the password. Bingo. Fedora core desktop with NO video corruption. The solution or workaround was found on the net within a couple of minutes.
 
The one thing I most like about Linuxes is that a solution to any problem or difficulty is only a Google away. There's also the fact the next iteration of the particular Linux will usually have the glitch corrected. If not in the next iteration, then in a custom or branched kernel.
 
Apple OS X is enjoyable to use and has ALWAYS been very user-friendly. Linux has a higher learning curve than Windows or Apple OS X, but gives you the ability to master your system's glitches every easily. The learning curve also produces greater satisfaction and a new skill.
 
Then there's Windows.
 
Bill Gates did make his millions in the after-care associated with Windows. At the end of the day, however, the need for such after-care has always been an impediment to true computing productivity.
 
Would NASA or the military use Windows? Not for anything mission-critical. A blue-screen fault in any of NASA's computers in any of their space missions would waste millions of dollars. We've also all seen that South Park episode where a general running a war games simulation on Windows gets more than cheesed at Bill for Windows going down at a crucial time.
 
In Windows 7, the blue-screen fault should have been long gone.
 
Then there's printer drivers. Would someone at Microsoft care to explain to me why I can get my printer working on Mac AND Linux with minimum fuss? Heck, a simple PPD file for the Linux and the printer is up and running, while on some other Linuxes it's automatically working the moment it's plugged in. Seriously, there is a really decent printer driver and software for OSX 10.5 AND Snow Leopard.
 
The thing now is that everything runs on Intel hardware. It's equal terms. Now it's a real competition. So Microsoft now has to actually prove itself a bit more.
 
Vista flopped because they didn't get it right. While they've improved things in Windows 7, I've seriously got to ask why there are still blue-screen faults. All the money Microsoft makes and they still can't get rid of it?
 
So the current verdict is: I'll still leave Windows 7 inside Virtualbox and only use it when I absolutely have to. If it can't work properly on a Mac, if it can't work properly on the virtual hardware specs for Virtualbox, why should I put it on any non-Mac computer?
 
Just to make Microsoft rich? Not enough reason. Just because it has so much market share? Still doesn't make it the best OS. Because they ask me nicely? Well, IF they get rid of that blue-screen fault AND get a printer driver going for my little printer...maybe.
 
If I'm going to do things on a computer, eventually turning a buck for my online efforts, I don't want an OS that impedes my workflow and productivity. Time spent solving a problem that shouldn't be there will always cost money that could have been better spent elsewhere.
 
Macs are great for productivity because they work and work well. Linuxes may have their slight difficulties, but when you want mission-critical, you can't beat them.
 
End of story.
 
Less hype, more actual real work really giving us an OS that works better, Microsoft. And stop trying to tell me Snow Leopard is as bad as Vista. A few small problems in old point-releases of some obscure program doesn't a Vista make.
 
My Snow Leopard has purred for the past week or so. Every program works. Again, end of story.

I'm told the one piece of hardware a Windows installation works perfectly on is an Intel Mac.

Imagine the irony of that.

This week, my budget finally stretched far enough to get a 13" MacBook and one of the first things I did was download VirtualBox to it.  Then, since Windows 7 Release Candidate is on the cover DVD of every local computer magazine, I put that inside a VirtualBox virtual machine.

I also put a couple of Linux distributions in sandboxed virtual machines too.

It's a bonus of even Macs running on X86 Intel powered hardware.  Everything can be virtualized on the same machine and you can experiment to your heart's content with any OS you want.

VirtualBox sets up the necessary requirements for each VM via a wizard.  You specify the amount of memory you want the VM to run, the size of the virtual hard disk, set a few more small parameters and then start up your VM.

So I'm really enjoying seeing a Windows sitting inside a Mac program.  Considering the Release Candidate becomes useless sometime around June 2010, it's better being used this way.  No need to dual-boot it with anything, no need to redo everything for a clean install of the full release.  As it is, after March 1, 2010, the RC will shut down every two hours.

If you use a similar method to me and get the RC from a magazine DVD, you have till October 31 to get a product key from Microsoft.

So what do I think of Windows 7?  Well, I missed out on Vista, so it's a huge jump for me.  Very different, perhaps a little less intuitive than previous models.  That's saying a lot for someone who's learnt computers by self-teaching and intuiting.

I like some of the customization and theming, though I'd love to change the taskbar color.  I like the circular Start button and the gadgets (clock, weather, calendar).  I'm especially fond of the new Wordpad, a way more functional version than that previously seen.  Most of the Control Panel is relatively easy to work out.  However, it's still such an alien creature compared to my netbook's Windows XP.  I figure I'll be spending quite a few weeks exploring it before I'll consider myself comfortable with it.

I've read in one of the magazines that a lot more thought went into Windows 7.  Where Vista shipped still waiting for some features to integrate with what was already done, nothing went into Win7 unless it was already finished.  More say by engineers, less by managers.  More thought, more planning, more cohesive.

So, theoretically, it should be a good Windows version.

Then again, I'm still making sure it stays trapped inside my Mac until I'm absolutely sure of that.