Windows 7 Redux

Now that the term is almost over and I’m already finished with Networks (since the final was on Tuesday), I’ve been left with a little bit of spare time. I suppose I could have used it to work on the IQP, but I decided that upgrading to Windows 7 was a more important goal. I can work on the IQP anytime, anywhere, as long as I have the IQPDE set up. An OS upgrade is a considerably more involved process and has to be done during a lull, in case anything goes wrong and you need time to iron it out. I wasn’t expecting any problems, since I had tested the software I use regularly to make sure there wouldn’t be any problems. (I posted about this about two months ago.)

So how did it go? Well, given that I’m dedicating a post to it, you can probably figure out the answer. Before I begin, I want to say that, amazingly, none (or almost none, but it’s hard to know for sure) of the problems I encountered were problems with Windows 7; they were all problems with various applications. Frankly, I’m digging Windows 7. I didn’t actually do any measurements, but everything feels faster, especially boot.

The first problem I encountered was my uncooperative motherboard. For some reason, it just did not want to boot from that darn install disc. Mucking with some BIOS settings and issuing some verbal threats got me past that.

The second problem I encountered was The Weather Channel’s Desktop Weather application. I’ve been using one weather app or another for years. I started out with WeatherBug but that was chock-full of spyware, so I dumped it for TWC, which at least only displays ads in its screen. Well, I went to install it and was promptly informed that 64-bit Windows is not supported. My bullshit-o-meter immediately shot into the red zone. Why the hell would a weather application, of all things, not work on a 64-bit OS? It’s not like it’s doing anything particularly specialized or complicated, or at least, it shouldn’t be, so it should work fine as a 32-bit app. In searching for answers, I uncovered a bunch of weather gadgets, which I slapped onto my desktop on my secondary monitor and will probably keep there, because they’re pretty convenient. But I still wanted that application, partially just to stick it to the Man and partially because it provides some information that no desktop gadget can give you, like forecasts by the hour. So I copied the working application from my laptop (which has Windows 7 in 32-bit trim installed) and ran it. Guess what? It works perfectly. What would we do without completely pointless, totally artificial installer checks?

The third problem I encountered was trying to get the IQPDE up and running. The first six or so steps went off without a hitch, then I hit a brick wall trying to get Eclipse set up. I began by installing the 64-bit JDK, but of course, 32-bit Eclipse can’t use it. So then I had to go chasing around half the Web to find out where the 64-bit Windows Eclipse installs are hidden (64-bit versions for other OSes, naturally, are right on the usual download page). Then after I downloaded that, I installed Flash Builder into it. This failed epically, because, once again, Adobe == shit and despite the fact that Flash Player comes in 64-bit trim, Flash Builder does not. So I had to repeat everything I’d just done, except using 32-bit versions of Eclipse and the JDK.

Yes, I know, 32-bit would have worked fine to begin with, but I’ve been trying to use as much 64-bit software as possible. Why? Because.

Anyway, I did all that, installed FB again, and this time it all went off without a hitch. I breathed a sigh of relief, figuring I was out of the woods. Ha! I proceeded to install Subclipse, and all the plugins promptly disappeared from Eclipse. After much trial and error, I eventually decided that UAC was probably the problem (because I put my Eclipse installation in “Program Files (x86)”), so I disabled it. After that, it was smooth sailing. So UAC is still shit, but its not like it would’ve ever stopped any malicious behavior anyway, since I’m not stupid enough to open e-mail attachments from people I don’t know. Or, you know, do anything else stupid and risky like that.

So I’m mostly back up and running now. I’m not looking forward to repeating this on my computer at home. On the plus side, the two months between my Windows 7 testing and now has been put to good use by some developers. IZArc had an issue with glitches in the context menu, which have been fixed. Opera’s configuration files have changed so that you don’t have to go mucking around with paths any more. And the official build of Notepad2 now includes the registry-based solution for replacing the default Notepad.

The upgrade pains have been worth it, though. Windows 7 is everything that Vista should have been. I’m especially happy that real multi-monitor support now comes baked into the OS. On XP, I had to use nVidia’s tool to create a hotkey for moving windows from one display to another. In Windows 7, the Win-Shift-Left/Right hotkey is there to do this for you right from the beginning. Also, you can (finally!) re-arrange the order of programs in the taskbar. Even my Internet connection seems faster. Not sure if it’s just me or if they actually put some work into streamlining the network stack.

On the downside, the fact that icons in the system tray are hidden by default bugs me, but as far as I know, there’s no way to configure this behavior, so I guess I’ll just deal with it. And you can’t shut off your computer by typing Win-Up-Enter-Enter any more; it’s Win-Right-Enter now. I think I talked about both of those things two months ago, but hey, they’re still bugging me.

So this is the last post of the term. (We’ve entered two-third time! …No, I won’t make that terrible joke again. Probably.) Over the break, expect to see posts about the IQP, the still-unexamined dishwasher’d parts, that game of GalCiv2 I mentioned a while back, whatever I get for Christmas (if it’s worth talking about), and any other assorted random things I feel like talking about.