Windows 7 RC on Tecra M7

Well, finally Windows 7 RC got out, and it has to be tested. Although it says you should not install it on a productive system, I found this to be my preferred way to test an operating system. Only this way you can test it "for real". Just keep a backup and a restore image at hand.

My test system is the same as last time: Tecra M7 Core 2 Duo T7200 4 GB RAM. I tested x86 and x64, here's the report:

Windows 7 Release Candidate 7100 x86

Handwriting

I installed the english version, and again, the handwriting recognition was only installed in english. Yes, normally you buy the operating system in your preferred language, but you will agree that a lot of people write in more than one language - and not only on the keyboard. Two examples:

• Except in native english speaking countries, most IT people will make notes in english in addition to their mother tongue.
• Swiss people (especially students) have to write at least in german and french or italian. Or think of Grisons, but I expect no recognition for Rumantsch Grischun.

Microsoft forces you to install the language pack to get handwriting recognition for other languages. So I got the language packs for de and fr, installed them and voilà, handwriting recognition worked. Why I have to install several hundred megabytes of mui-files just to get C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ink\hwr[language]*.dat (where [language] is deu, fr, uk, us is beyond me. It does not work just by extracting and overwriting the files. When I have time I'll look further into this, maybe there's a workaround that allows to use multilanguage handwriting without the whole package.

Handwriting Math Input Panel

This was already in the beta, but I forgot to write about it. A very handy application, when you got math classes. It allows you to write mathematical formulae. Symbols like sigma, integral signs and more are recognized. The object is editable with the Microsoft Formula Editor.

Calls for a LaTeX-converter...

Hardware

Improved since the last version. Recognition of almost all the hardware was instantly, or after the first update (nVidia). Not recognized were the Flash Media Controller and Bluetooth, but both worked with the Vista-drivers from the Toshiba webpage. For the TPM- and the biometric functionality I had to install additional software. For the TPM I used the same as in Beta, 3.5 from here and follow the instructions from this post; UPEK has a new version for RC, get it here.

Software

The Toshiba Value Added Package and Tablet PC Extension Package still work as in Vista. Meaning that the rotation-button does not, but the rotation works when you rotate the screen or use the presentation-button and click "rotate" in Windows Mobility Center.

Postzertifikat

Since this concerns only Swiss people I write in german.

Das Postzertifikat läuft immer noch - einfach die neueste Software herunterladen und installieren. Das USB-Token wird direkt erkannt. Steckt man den Stick vor der Installation der Software ein, so erkennt Windows den Smartcard-Chip, hat aber keine Treiber für ihn. Für die Smartcards einiger Hersteller ist keine zusätzliche Software mehr nötig, Siemens CardOS-Karten gehören aber nicht dazu.

Windows 7 Release Candidate 7100 x64

Well, this one was more tricky - and there was not a solution for everything.

Most hardware is recognized and works out of the box or after Windows Update. Toshiba does not support x64 very much - thus I miss the drivers for the Texas Instruments PCI-6x12 Cardbus-Controller (no problem, I got no cardbus-cards anymore) and the Toshiba HDD Protection. I tried some stuff with the drivers for the last one, the effect was that the machine froze after being moved.

As if this was not enough, my main application misses a feature on x64: Onenote has no "Send to OneNote"-printer in x64 and there won't be one for Office 2007. The workaround supports no OCR, so I decided not to install a complete working environment on x64.