Hands-On Report--Windows Vista RC1 on a MacBook Pro with Boot Camp 1.1

We have been running Windows XP on our MacBook Pro and Mac mini Core Duo using Apple's Boot Camp 1.1, although we much prefer Parallels Desktop for Mac to avoid having to reboot to shift between Mac OS X and Windows XP. We have no real need for Windows XP these days so we've installed it more as a curiosity and to be able to comment first hand on the capability because some Mac users do need to run apps under Windows XP.

Saturday night we received notice from Microsoft that the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) was now available for download as a part of their Customer Preview Program. By registering, one can download a copy free, burn it to a DVD and install it. Earlier we had registered and downloaded the previous Public Beta 2 of Windows Vista but because of its reputation for bugginess we never did anything with it. We downloaded the RC1 32-bit version and burned an installation DVD with no problems.

Our Windows XP installation with Boot Camp used a 5.8GB partition but to install Windows Vista RC1 we needed a larger, nearly 12GB partition. First, we used Boot Camp to delete the 5.8GB Windows XP partition on our 2.16GHz MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM and to create a 11.8GB Windows partition. Then, we inserted the Windows Vista RC1 DVD into the SuperDrive and Boot Camp caused a restart.

It took a long time for something to happen but eventually a white progress bar at the bottom of a black screen appeared with a notation that Windows was in the progress of installing some files. Awhile later, the Windows Vista installer screen appeared and we had to enter the Product ID code (this led to a Windows Vista Ultimate installation), accept the license and choose the disc/partition from among a half dozen or so. The latter was a bit confusing because we had made only one 11.8GB Windows partition so we selected the one that was 11.8GB. The others were 0 or 128KB. We have no idea why we were given so many obviously wrong choices. It took about 30 minutes to install Windows Vista RC1 and we were introduced to Microsoft's version of Apple's spinning "gear wheel" activity indicator, essentially a blue-green ring that spins. After restarting twice we got the Windows Vista login screen, entered our name a password and were presented with the Windows Vista desktop.

The new Vista desktop looks closer to Mac OS X than did Windows XP. Where XP's color scheme looks gaudy and toy-like to us, Vista with the "new" Aero graphics enabled (it was by default on our MacBook Pro) looks much more professional. While the desktop itself is very similar in design to the Windows line, Vista has transparency and shadows for its windows just like Mac OS X has had since 10.0. There is even a dock of sorts that runs vertically on the right hand side of the desktop.

Microsoft has once again taken a stab at reducing the complexity of the Windows GUI by hiding its working details behind a "Welcome Center" with user-friendly descriptions of categories of the actions to be taken or tools to use. In our opinion, this approach by Microsoft is much less successful in creating real usability for both novices or pros than Apple's simplification approach in Mac OS X. Microsoft's approach really results in obfuscation of complexity, making an operation take many steps to do, after finding where it is, when in Mac OS X it takes fewer and is more intuitive.

Windows Vista takes security very (overly?) seriously in its GUI. In fact, it is down right annoying. Virtually any change of configuration or action pops up a dialog box asking if one is sure that one wants to do it but we guess this is reality in the Windows world.

Unfortunately, the Mac drivers for Windows XP that come with Apple's Boot Camp do not install in Windows Vista RC1. Vista RC1 recognizes our Apple wireless Bluetooth keyboard, our 5-button Microsoft Explorer USB mouse and the MacBook Pro's hard drive and SuperDrive. It does not recognize the built-in iSight nor a FireWire hard drive or FireWire 800 ExpressCard 34. Curiously, it recognizes the AirPort Extreme card and finds our AirPort Extreme network but won't connect despite diagnosing it as a hidden network and WPA protected.

Windows Vista RC1 also works with our 30" Apple Cinema Display attached to the MacBook Pro in mirror, extended desktop and lid-closed modes. The modes are enabled via a screen right after installation if the monitor is attached or via the screen resolution control panel.

Battery life with our MacBook Pro may be less using Windows Vista RC1. When we open the battery performance control panel and set it to the best battery life setting, which lowers performance, the time indicator gives one hour and 30 minutes with a fully bright screen. In Mac OS X with similar settings we get three hours and 30 minutes indicated. We write "may" with regard to relative battery performance because we are using two different software battery life indicators.

Windows Vista RC1 is quite usable on a MacBook Pro even without Mac-specific drivers if one has a USB PC 2-button mouse. We didn't try all of the keys to see which work and which don't but the disc eject key doesn't so we suspect that none of the Mac-specific keys do. The performance (speed) of Windows Vista Ultimate with Aero graphics enabled is excellent on our MacBook Pro. In fact, Windows Vista rates the MacBook Pro as overall 4.1 out of 5 with some of the aspects (e.g. hard drive) being rated as high as 4.9 out of 5. It didn't crash on us once in several hours of use, including setup and Web surfing.

For those Mac users stuck partially in a Windows world at work, Intel-based Macs and Windows Vista promise to improve their life appreciably based on our short experience. Windows Vista RC1 is time-limited software that will expire on June 1, 2007. It is also still beta-testing software so there is no technical support from Microsoft. [Bill Fox]