I’m an avid Mac user, but I can’t help but be impressed with the new Windows 7 OS.  I’ve currently loaded Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit (boot camp on a MacBook) and 64-bit (boot camp on a MacBook Pro).  And I have to say that I am impressed with the OS on both machines, especially when I consider that I’m running the OS on Apple hardware via  Boot Camp.  For those of you that are familiar with this process, you are aware of some of the challenges that come along with Boot Camp when using your Windows OS in conjunction with all of the feature rich options of Apple hardware drivers.  Well, with Windows 7, it’s like butter.

It really comes down to some of the basics.  Things like bluetooth, printers, displays and speed.  In the past, getting bluetooth devices (i.e. mouse, keyboard, printers) to connect and stay connected using a Windows OS was hazardous at best.  But with Windows 7, I’m not experiencing any issues.  I can reboot, put the computer to sleep, disconnect and reconnect, leave the bluetooth hardware paired with my Mac, and the hardware stays connected with no glitches.  I’m even using the new Apple wireless keyboard and mouse with absolutely no problems.  Windows 7 even supports all of the functions of the Apple wireless keyboard and mouse.

I am using and Apple AirPort Express to share a Canon printer on my home network via IP.  Windows connected to this IP printer, no problem.  Windows Update had all the drivers necessary and give me full functionally for my printer in the OS.

I’m really impressed with how Windows 7 handles multiple displays.  I’m using Dell flat panel displays.  I have a 23″ (1920×1080) display at home and a 19″ (1400×900) display at work.  I’m having absolutely no issues using these displays.  Windows 7 remembers exactly how my icons should appear on each individual display, applies the correct resolution and remembers all of my custom color calibration and clear type settings for each display.  Unbelievable.  This was an absolutely horrible experience with Vista.  Physically disconnecting and reconnecting an external display is a breeze.  Windows 7 responds almost instantaneously.  I have to admit that Windows 7 handles this particular issue way better that any Mac OS that I’ve used.

Lastly, Windows 7 is fast and seems to run really “light” on my machine.  What I mean by that is that it doesn’t take up my computer’s resources to run.  You might be used to a really slow running and responding Vista experience.  Not so with Windows 7.  It’s a completely different experience.  And I have to admit that video looks really good.  It seems that even Hulu looked better on the same machine running Windows 7 than it did on Mac OSX Leopard.  Crazy talk, I know.

One quick note to churches.  Renewed Vision is releasing ProPresenter v4 for Windows coming this Summer.  This really changes the game for those considering ProPresenter for your worship environment.  I’m interested to see how Windows 7 is going to handle the software.  I have had a few challenges with the Mac display drivers interacting with some of our video switchers in a live environment.  It’s sometimes hit and miss whenever I’m trying to get a switch to use a certain resolution from my Mac’s external display.  Based on how I’ve seen Windows 7 utilize external displays so far, I’m interested to see how it will handle ProPresenter in a live production environment.  I’m feeling like it may be a better experience.