I will post here what I posted on DJ Forums regarding the Windows 7 Beta.
Windows 7 as an OS I definately find snappier than Vista.
I also found it less memory taxing after starting up. Installing programs such as Live 6 Demo disc I had, Tracktion and Mixvibes DVS I had no issues with. The programs ran smoothly.
Where I DID have an issue though was using my Echo Audiofire8. I did something stupid (at least I thought I did) and it stopped working properly. Even after reinstalling Windows 7 Beta, I still had a few issues with installing the Audiofire8 drivers.
I found that I had to disable UAC COMPLETELY to work the way I want it to. It seems that my Ricoh FW controller under Windows 7 Beta doesn't like ASIO that much. After about two hours of BSOD and checking out some forums, I found a solution that worked for me and was able to test it the stuff the way I wanted it to.
Laptop:HP Pavillion 6663ca
2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo
2 GB DDR2 RAM
250 5400 RPM HD
Echo Audiofire8
Tweaking ComparisonsUnlike Vista, I was actually able to tweak Windows 7 Beta to a workable level. Using a DPC Latency checker, I was successfully able to get ALL green... I was NEVER able to do that with Vista no matter how many devices or services I disabled. So in my experience, it made my laptop more audio ready than before.
Mixvibes DVS PerformanceI used an ASIO analyzer to monitor for underruns and I had my Audiofire8 settings to 88.2 kHz @ 64 buffers (0.72ms). When using Vista, I found that buffer underrun increased +1 every 2 minutes or so. There were also seldom sound drop outs. When using Windows 7 (W7B), there were no dropouts... AT ALL.
I even looked at the ASIO Analyzer to see if there were any underrun increase and there was no increase in the hour long test I was doing. I increase my sample rate to 96kHz. So now I am testing at 96kHz @ 64 buffers (0.66 ms) and again, no drop outs or underrun increase. This again supports the effectiveness of the earlier tweaks.
To push my luck, I lowered the buffers. So now this 96kHz @ 32 buffers (0.33ms). Nothing.... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Oh well can't win them all.
Live Performance TestI tested using a Live 6 demo and a performance test file that was available via their forum. I set my Audiofire8 at 44.1kHz @ 512 buffers. I tried it once before on my Vista partition and I failed the test miserably. I was hoping that W7B, I would see some type of improvement. Unfortunantly not. My laptop still performed misrably.
There was no difference in performance with Vista and Windows 7 for me in this test.
Conclusion:If you are the type that knows what you are doing IMO Windows 7 Beta would be good to have as an OS ON THE SIDE. Don't replace your current OS with the Beta... install it on a separate partition since it expires. What you should NOT expect W7B to do is to super charge your laptop. It will have your computer performing the way it should (provided you have the specs), but that is it . It won't make up for hardware limitations that exist in your laptop as was proven in the Live Test Performance. When Windows 7 comes out, I would recommend getting it as I found it to be a better performer overall. I also want to emphasize that you CHOOSE the right laptop for your djing and productions.
I hope some of yall find this helpful.
