Win 7 on new iMac i7

[mkummer]

Hi there -

I got last week finally the new 27 inch iMac i7 with 8 GB of RAM. I transferred my Win 7 installation of Fusion to the new machine - all ran fine, Win 7 had not to be activated again. The speed improvement over my earlier MacBook Pro 17 unibody with 4 GB and Cinema 30 attached is vast. Before, I had to shut down background tasks like Safari and iTunes to get a responsive Win 7 - now it runs with those apps in background w/o problems. Most of the time WIN 7 comes out of standby mode in less than 10 sec. and the systems is responsive immediately. The Win index got to 4,5 - graphics over 5.

Only thing is - the magic mouse is a little „chaotic“ in the WIN 7 install. It scrolls a little erratic in windows, some times for it alone w/o even touching it. Should I install the new Mac drivers of Bootcamp in the WIN 7 install? (I just remembered the old saying - never fix a running system...)

Since I have now 4 cores - would it be advisable to use 2 of them in WIN 7? In the MacBook Pro with dual core using 2 cores in WIN 7 slowed the machine down in WIN.

Some experiences or advice would be valuable. Thanks in advance.

regards, Michael

[WoodyZ]

Why don't you just take a snapshot and then give the Virtual Machine another vCPU and test it out and if it all runs better for you then you can delete the snapshot and keep on going and if not then restore to the previous snapshot.

[rcardona2k]

I'm with WoodyZ, we don't all have a latest, shiny ferrari like your 27" iMac. You need to try things and let us know how it works out. 4 cores and 8 GB sound very nice.

As for the magic mouse, I doubt installing the bootcamp drivers will help in the guest will help. Since you have a snapshot add that to the list though. I'm trying to buy a magic mouse myself, but i'm a bit nervous with some of the reports on here about it. I still have a wireless mighty mouse that's tried and true.

[mkummer]

Hi - I tried now using 2 cores like described - works w/o flaws, but I don’t see to much improvement in my apps. Not sure its worth the effort...

regards, Michael

[ehendrix]

The advantage of 2 cores will be fully dependent on what you're doing and if the applications you're using will split their stuff into multiple tasks. For example, Excel 2007 will use multiple cores for calculations when available. So if you have major spreadsheet with calculations then multiple cores will speed-up the performance.

Same, if you regularly have something running in the background in Windows while doing something else in Windows, you will notice a performance change.

If you're just using it for Outlook, or Word, or Internet Explorer then I doubt that you indeed will see much difference.

[mkummer]

Hi - just wanted to give a little update on my experiences:

I now run WIN 7 with 2 cores and 2 GB of RAM - this runs smoothly and increased my WIN score to 5.5 - so far no problems.

regards, Michael

[Hendey]

Finding your post is a day late for me but encouraging. I use Solidworks on Windows 7 via Fusion on my 2009 13" Macbook Pro. It runs well but I need more graphics power so I just purchased a 27" iMac with all the fix'ens. It took me a long time to decide between that and a Dell workstation. I cringe at the thought of going to a dedicated Windows machine again. It sounds like I will be pleased.

As for the processor discussion I use both side of my Core 2 Duo for Fusion and it works well. I need it for when I render models in Solidworks. I will try using all the cores with my new iMac when it comes this week. Another note is I have to have at least 3 gig for Windows otherwise it is a little flaky.

Thinks to note:

• Install Lion as a fresh install for best results if your comming from Snow Leopard
• Max out the ram on your Mac
• Solid State Drives are SWEET!
• Backup, Backup, Backup, including off site

Thanks,