Got the nod from IT support to install Windows 7 on my work machine last week. When I got some time at the weekend, I did the upgrade from Vista. It did say that it could take several hours and it really wasn't kidding. Anyway, I've been using Windows 7 for about a week now and so far I feel my laptop is running for longer between charges and the hard drive isn't getting constantly hammered as it did under Vista. Another thing I'm pleased with is the time it takes to become usable after a cold start. Restoring from Sleep and Hibernate also seem quicker as does the shutdown. There really isn't anything more annoying or distracting than having to wait for your computer to do things - well there is, but I'm just talking about computers here.

So far, I'm liking Windows 7, but wait, this task bar is a bit different - is that good?

I'm actually excited about this latest version of Windows.

Why? Well, from what I've read about Windows 7, it should run quite happily on low powered devices such as MIDs, UMPCs Netbooks or older machines. It’s even been claimed that it will “out perform” Windows XP and Vista on everyday tasks.

At home, our machines are running Windows XP, which is fine but it’s getting old, and XP will soon be unsupported by Microsoft. Unfortunately, our machines aren't really up to running Vista, they don't have enough memory or processor power to make the experience pleasant and unobtrusive. There are some really good reasons (apparently) for moving over to Vista, but the cost associated with the extra hardware and the OS are too much to justify.

Windows 7 has a lot to prove, and if it makes the same impact on Users as Vista did, then even more people are going migrate over to the Mac.

I so hope Windows 7 gives us the “Wow” that Vista didn’t.

To find out first hand, I downloaded the latest public beta from Microsoft and installed it as a Virtual Machine. If you've tried running Vista as a Virtual Machine, you'll know how bad it is. My theory is, if Windows 7 runs well as a Virtual Machine, then it should run rather well native.

So far, Windows 7 seems to perform pretty well as a virtual machine, which is also impressive given that it's a beta. I'll be honest, I've not done much with it yet - time will tell.

I have Windows Home Server installed, my home computers are connected to it and everything seems to be working well. Now, can I install Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 on the Home Server or will this break something? Only one way to find out without doing some background reading and that's to go ahead and install it.

Ready to install, OK.

So far, so good.

Finally, installed and no issues reported. Checking the Windows Home Server console suggests that all is well and the Virtual Server admin site appears to be working too. Next thing to do is add a virtual machine to the Virtual Server and see how that gets on.

I’ve been interested in Windows Home Server for a while now and this weekend I installed an evaluation copy on a dusty, old and noisy desktop. Apart from the advertised features of the Windows Home Server, I was interested in what else the Server could do for me.

The Home Servers key features are based around its ability to act as a central file server and perform scheduled backups of the machines on the Home Server network. Should something go wrong on one of those machines, Windows Home Server will restore that machine to the last backup using a Restore CD.

I knew Home Server was based a Windows 2003 Server, but suspected that some of the 2003 Server features would be limited or disabled.  I’ve always liked Windows 2003, its fast, secure, has II6 and it doesn’t demand a high specification machine. In fact the minimum hardware specification for the Home server is as follows:

• Computer with 1 GHz Pentium III (or equivalent) or faster processor
• 512 MB of RAM or more
• 70 GB or larger ATA, SATA, or SCSI hard drive as the primary hard drive and any number of additional hard drives of any size. These additional drives can be attached via USB or Fire wire.
• DVD drive—your home server must be capable of booting from this drive
• VGA or higher-resolution monitor for software installation
• Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (needed only during initial home server software installation)
• 100 Mbps or faster Ethernet network interface card

To run Windows Home Server, your home network must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Internet broadband router with a 100 Mbps or faster wired Ethernet connection connected to the Home server
• The Windows Home Server assumes that each of the home computers get their IP address from the router/firewall.
  Obviously, In order to share resources remotely you’ll also need a Broadband connection.

One thing that’s interesting is that a wireless connection between Windows Home Server and your network is not supported. Windows Home Server must be physically connected to a wired Ethernet port on your router.

Below are a few screen shots which came up during the installation, there are couple of interesting screens with text such as "Small Business Edition" and so on...

Now that I have the evaluation of Windows Home Server installed, I'll have a look at installing Virtual Server 2005 and a few other things to see what's possible.