Review: Microsoft Seeks Redemption With Windows 7 RC

The reviewers compared a clean install of Windows 7 RC to some benchmark scores done on the same hardware on both XP SP3 and Vista last year. The test machine is a mid-range desktop with 1.6GHz dual-core Intel processors and 1 GB (yes, 1 GB) of RAM. We wanted to keep the same amount of physical memory on the machine as we had installed when we tested Vista and XP.

We used Primate Labs' Geekbench 2.1.2 for benchmark scoring. Our findings -- Windows 7 with 1 GB gave a benchmark score of 2,046. This was a slightly lower result than XP SP 3's score of 2,052.6 on the same hardware, yet higher than Vista SP1's score of 1,994, again on the same hardware.

For the duration of the test, the machine was upgraded to 2 GB of RAM. With 2 GB, we got an even higher score of 2,064. With the Aero interface and Aero mouse pointers disabled, the score was negligibly higher at 2,073.

The real delight with Windows 7 RC was in the smooth install process. Installation took 29 minutes from disc insertion to the desktop loading. This may be a record installation time for a Windows operating system.

During the partition setup of the install, a specific amount of space was reserved for system files. This action was done automatically by the install process, without any intervention on our part. The install did not specify which system files were going to be used for this area of the disk, although the consensus in the Test Center is that it is probably for the System Restore feature.

Another blessing with Window 7 RC is that there were no issues with drivers. It looks as if Microsoft and vendors really got on board with ensuring driver compatibility. In contrast, when we tested Vista, we had to reload NIC, USB and sometimes graphics drivers.

The startup time from a cold boot to the login prompt was 30 seconds. Complete shutdown took 18 seconds.

Copying a 1.25-GB file from a network share to the local desktop took 1 minute and 58 seconds. That same file took almost three minutes to copy in XP and 2.5 minutes in Vista.

We connected a digital camera to the machine. Windows 7 identified the camera manufacturer and model name correctly and loaded it without a hitch. We tried something a little more exotic, connecting a USB biometric personal reader. Although Windows could not install the driver, even from Windows Update, the system correctly identified the device's name and manufacturer.

We were impressed with the changes in User Account Control. The UAC level is now set via a graphical slider. At the top of the slider range is "Always Notify" and at the bottom is "Never Notify." By default, Windows 7 will notify only when programs try to make a change to the computer, except for Windows settings changes. This really cuts down on the chatter on the Taskbar and in the amount of pop-up windows every time a change is made. What's great is that those who want a strict level of UAC can easily set the slider to enforce it.

Performance seems to be spot on as well. With five Internet Explorer 8 tabs opened, a movie running in Windows Media Player, an active online chess game running and Windows DVD maker running, CPU usage averaged 7 percent, with an occasional spike up to 9 percent. Physical memory usage averaged 900 MB out of the 2 GB installed, and threads averaged about 600.

Much to our disappointment " well, at least some of us in the Test Center -- gone is the ability to view the Start Menu in Classic mode as well as setting the Control Panel to Classic.

Microsoft has scored a home run with Virtual Windows XP Mode. It was easy to install, and peripheral support was excellent. The host machine's USB and DVD drive were picked up by the virtual machine without any hiccups.

The network connectivity of the VM was flawless. Virtual XP is a great way to run legacy applications, although it does require a processor that supports virtualization.

Microsoft has raised the bar with Windows 7 that had been lowered with Vista. It will be of interest to see if the promise that Windows 7 RC shows will restore any customer's faith that may have wavered with Vista.