If you don’t believe that drivers make a difference in terms of performance and stability, here’s a real-world example.

I recently installed Windows 7 beta on a Dell Studio Hybrid. This system is actually a notebook PC’s guts crammed into a tiny desktop-sized box with no expansion slots, so it should be no surprise that its integrated Intel X3100 video circuitry identifies itself as a Mobile Intel 965 Express in Device Manager.

The Windows 7 beta initially installed an Intel driver from its default collection, dated October 2008. Here’s the Windows Experience index as it appeared after completing the initial install:

Windows Update kindly offered me a new driver, this one dated December 2008. After installing it, the Windows Experience Index display nogted that it needed to be refreshed. After I did so, here’s the number that appeared:

Now, 3.1 to 3.5 doesn’t seem like such a big jump. But take a closer look at the individual measurements. The 3D performance benchmark went from a mediocre 3.1 to an impressive 4.9, just on the basis of a single driver update. And the difference is noticeable in everyday operation.

I’m especially impressed to see this sort of development effort being turned out by hardware manufacturers while the OS is still in beta. A big difference from the days when Vista was under development.

I’ve added a spam-free “contact me” page to this site. You’ll find a permalink in the right sidebar.

Update: Gaack. Apparently mail is not reaching me.

Update 2: Seems to be working now.

Thank you, David Malki:

Overnight, Microsoft’s Chaitanya Sareen posted a list of 36 detailed changes that are being checked into the Windows 7 release candidate as a result of feedback from the beta test. A few highlights:

• Direct support for playing back .MOV files (like the ones my digital camera records), without requiring me to install QuickTime. Hallelujah.
• Some tweaks to the Libraries feature, designed to make it more easily understandable.
• A better interface for saving custom themes.
• A slew of changes to the taskbar and jump lists, including some visual tweaks that “squeeze in 24-39% more icons before the taskbar scrolls.” If I understand that correctly (no visual is included), it should also get rid of the excessive open space on the taskbar.

A change I don’t see on this list is a bug that currently affects Windows Explorer in the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000). If you right-click the Libraries heading, one option on the shortcut menu is Delete:

And if you click Delete, sure enough, the Libraries heading goes away. For a few minutes. Or until you open a new instance of Windows Explorer. That setting should be persistent.

This bug has apparently been reported several times by beta testers, with each instance closed as “Won’t fix.” That seems wrong to me, and I can’t imagine how I am going to explain this behavior in Windows 7 Inside Out.

[Update: In the coments, Microsoft’s Brandon Paddock points out that the Delete option was removed post-beta and is gone from current builds. Thanks, Brandon!]

This just landed in my inbox:

Today Microsoft announced the release of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 RC to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. These customers are able to access SP2 RC via the TechNet and MSDN download sites. Next week, Microsoft will make SP2 RC available to the public via TechNet.

You can read more about SP2 on the Windows team blog and the Windows Server team blog.

I’ve been running the SP2 beta on one system here without any untoward incidents to report.

I’ve been fiddling about this week with personalizing the Windows 7 desktop. One task was creating some high-def backgrounds from my collection of photography. I came across a few pics I had taken that seemed to work very well at 1920 x 1200 resolution, so I cropped them and then saved them in a folder that Windows shuffles through at 30-minute intervals.

I’ve made five shots available for public access on my Windows Live Photos page, partially as a test to see how well the download process works for the public. Here’s my favorite:

You’ll have to look at the full-size image to appreciate that those objects in the center are radio telescopes in the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico. Here are direct links for the whole series:

(And before you ask, no, there’s no Wallpaper_3.)

If you have any feedback on the images or the process of downloading them, leave it in the comments below.

And one more, a very eerie landscape from Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

Things that you can always count on:

Sun rises in East.

Fish swim.

Walt Mossberg reviews new Sony PC and concludes that Windows Vista sucks.

Latest horrendous example here. Sample snippets:

The Vaio P is mainly undone because it comes with Vista Home Premium, the edition of Windows that is sluggish and a memory hog.

[…]

I also tested [an] experimental configuration … of the Vaio P, which … had been tweaked by Sony to turn off many of Vista’s performance-sapping and power-hungry features. This box ran better, though still not great.

I have no idea what these horrible Vista features are. I have never found a MakeRocketShipGoFast registry setting for Vista, but maybe Sony’s engineers have. I suspect instead that this is an evolution of Sony’s program for decrapifying computers. I tested one of the first computers in this Fresh Start program a posted the results at ZDNet last summer: Sony’s amazing crapware-free PC. But the big performance increase there hadf nothing to do with turning off Vista features and everything to do with removing unwanted software.

Anyway, good news! Apparently installing Windows 7 fixes everything!

Much better was a Vaio P with the forthcoming version of Windows, called Windows 7, installed. This version of Windows, likely to ship by this fall, made the Vaio P perform acceptably, despite its wimpy processor. Everything was much snappier, and reboot times were cut in half.

May have to ask Sony to send me a VAIO P so I can fact-check Walt again.

By the way, I am mystified by the opening paragraph:

Of the most famous computer makers, only two, Apple and Sony, primarily aim their products at consumers, instead of the generally conservative IT departments of big companies. So, it’s no surprise that these two tech giants often turn out especially stylish and daring hardware designs.

That would, I’m sure, be big news to Dell and HP, which both have sizable consumer divisions that have been doing wonderful work lately with “stylish and daring” hardware designs. The HP models in HP’s TouchSmart series (Flash demo – simpler version is here), are every bit as beautiful and innovative as anything Apple produces, and Dell’s Studio Hybrid is a better desktop than just about anything Sony makes, at about half the price.

But in Walt’s World, Apple=awesome and Sony=Vista=suck.

Sigh.

I am honored to have the first guest post on Technologizer’s new Digital Media Central site, run by my old friend and almost-colleague Harry McCracken.

Go read The Pleasures and Perils of Going Digital.

I’ve been running Windows Server 2008 with its Hyper-V virtualization role enabled since early last year. (See Is Hyper-V ready for the Windows desktop? and Hyper-V in action to catch up.) For what I do, it’s tremendously useful. Right now I have two servers and five workstations installed in virtual machines, running multiple flavors of Windows and Linux and giving me the opportunity to test different configurations easily.

When I set this up initially, I used the detailed walkthroughs from Microsoft’s John Howard (part 1 covers the server side and part 2 details the client settings). Since then, I’ve been able to manage virtual machines from a remote console on my Vista desktop, and connect to individual machines with each one able to run in its own window, also from Vista.

Over the past month I’ve migrated more and more of my work to Windows 7, But until today I had put off migrating the tools to remotely work with virtual machines. I decided to tackle that job this morning. After a few false starts (and a little quality time with several search engines) I had everything working, and it took only a few minutes.

The process of enabling remote administration of Hyper-V machines is considerably simpler today than it was last year, thanks to the excellent work of John Howard, who has created a Windows script-based Hyper-V Remote Management Configuration Utility. By running the master script with the correct parameters in an elevated Command window, you can take most of the drudgery out of setting permissions and configuring the Windows Firewall.

One crucial step isn’t listed in the instructions for the HVRemote utility. If you’re working with Hyper-V, you need to install the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7. Note that this tool runs only on the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7. A single executable runs on both x86 and x64 versions of the current Windows 7 Beta, as I’ve confirmed here. [November 2009: I’ve updated the link to point to the final release of the RSAT package for Windows 7, which comes in separate x86 and x64 editions.]

After installing RSAT, open Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, and choose Turn Windows features on or off. Expand the Remote Server Administration Tools Heading and the Role Administration Tools subheading, then select Hyper-V Tools, as shown here:

Click OK, and you’re done with software installation.

Follow the client setup instructions in the HVRemote documentation (or use the quick set of instructions here) and you’re good to go. I’m now happily running Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Ultimate, and the x64 edition of Windows 7 Ultimate on the server, working with them from a dual-screen Windows 7 desktop.

If you were hoping that Microsoft would cut the number of Windows 7 editions down to just one, you’re disappointed today. But if you’re willing to settle for three, your wishes have come true.

Well, sort of.

I’ve got more details over at ZDNet. (See Microsoft simplifies the Windows 7 lineup.) But here’s the short version:

• Windows 7 Home Premium is the new entry level, with Media Center and better backup features than the equivalent Vista edition.
• Windows 7 Professional replaces Vista Business. It includes every feature from Home Premium (Media Center included) plus Remote Desktop host and support for Windows domains. It’s a straight upgrade from Home Premium.
• Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise are the same product, with the Enterprise name used for customers who buy in huge volume through Select license agreements.

Windows 7 Home Basic will be available only in emerging markets and will not be sold in the U.S., Western Europe, and other developed countries.

And were you looking for something to run your netbook? In the U.S., the only available downgrade from Home Premium is the severely hobbled Starter Edition, which can run only three programs at a time. (Yes, Starter Edition was previously only available in emerging markets. Now it’s available worldwide, and Microsoft has banished Home Basic to the hinterlands. Go figure.)

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what Microsoft is thinking when it comes to netbooks. But the rest of this seems like very good news, especially the revamped Anytime Upgrade feature, which lets you “unlock” the features for an upgrade in 10 minutes or less, without having to go through the hassle of a full upgrade.