Win 7 (64 Bit) Day One. Video work.

After my trials and tribulations with installing Win 7 today I want to give the first “user” update.

Let me start by noting that while my son has been using a Beta version (and loving it) for about 6 months, I have not been using any variant of Win 7.  I have installed a copy as a virtual machine (that install went quickly) and even upgraded a virtual install of Vista to Win 7 (went cleanly, but by no means quickly.)  This is my first foray into using the OS, and I am diving in head first. [1. But not diving in blindly.  As noted in my previous posts, I wanted to set this up as a dual boot specifically to protect myself from any unforeseen “problems.”]

(Read my first reactions after the break)

As noted earlier, once I installed the device drivers the SATA card (that controls two of my hard drives) the install went smoothly, including recognizing all my “normal” device.

First things first, I immediately installed Google Chrome as my browser of choice, and then proceeded to use that browser to find and download various updates.

Next, I installed the drivers for my more “non-standard” items including the Alesis Multimix 8 Firewire, and the Linksys iPhone CIT200 (for Skype–and yes, it was iPhone first.)  I had to download the latest drivers for each (a good idea anyway) and they both seem to be working well.

I installed Skype, and tested that out with the Alesis mixer by having my brother call me. That went well except after about a minute I could no longer hear him.  I am not sure what happened and have not been able to duplicate the problem so I am not sure if it was on my end or his. [2.  He was calling using Skype for the iPhone.  It sounded great, but the possibility always exists that the app stopped sending audio from his end.]

The big test for me was Adobe Production Studio Premium CS3 and Adobe Audition 3.0.  I needed to create a commercial for my son’s water polo match today, and so was going to put the packages to the test.  I was a bit nervous, since I had heard of problems previously with these applications in Vista 64 (they are older applications, and written for 32 bit.)  I deactivated the installs in my Vista partition, installed them in Win 7, and started using them.  I am happy to report that every program in CS3 that I have tried has so far worked well.  I have been able to import files, make edits and add effects, and with the video export in a variety of formats.  You can even see the results of the effort here.

One final note:  I used the Microsoft DVD Maker that is part of the Windows 7 install [3.  Well, you have to download it, along with all the other Microsoft Live Essentials–so those without broadband are at a disadvantage.]  I built the DVD and my son commented upon seeing the menu screen that it seemed very professional. (“That looks real!”)  I must say, the few minutes I spent with that tool showed me that it can be quick and simple to make a nice looking DVD.  A big improvement over Nero’s NeroVision DVD maker that I had been using (which was also quite easy to use.)

There are a number of other little programs that I also installed, and will be writing more about those as I put them through their paces over the next few days, getting ready for the Windows 7 Launch Party I am hosting.