Windows 7 on 1st Gen 13″ MacBook
I’ve been using the new Windows 7 Release Candidate on my 1st gen (1,1) 13″ MacBook for about two hours now, and it’s mostly pretty impressive. Mostly. I haven’t managed to get the sound working yet, and multitouch isn’t working on the trackpad, but I should be able to sort that stuff out with a little snooping around on the intertubes.
I installed it as a completely fresh install – no Boot Camp – so I think that is what’s causing the trackpad issues. I just got a new 320 GB drive for this laptop, so once I install that, I’ll put OS X 1.5 on it, with Boot Camp, and that should let me install the Apple drivers.
Oh, and I haven’t figured out how to left-click yet, which is pretty frustrating.
Other impressions so far . . . well, it’s quick. Even on an older laptop it feels fast. My internet connection feels even faster in Windows 7 than it does in OS X 10.4. I don’t have any real numbers, unfortunately, but it seems noticeably quicker.
Installing applications is also incredibly fast. There has been no lag while switching between installation menus. I’m seriously impressed.
I’ve installed OpenOffice, The Gimp, Firefox, Songbird, Launchy, and VLC, and with each installation, I’ve noticed how fast things are loading. Maybe it shouldn’t be particularly impressive. Maybe I’m expecting Windows 7 to suck. Without much real Vista experience, I guess I was expecting Windows 7 to chug and fail, especially in a non-typical installation, like on a MacBook, but so far, it’s been enjoyable. Besides the sound and trackpad problems, which are understandable, Windows 7 is a good time. Up next – installing some older applications and games and such to test out the XP compatibility.
