What I really did was remote into my desktop PC which is running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.  I suppose this is cheating, but as a good friend of mine has often said “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’”.  I used a great little app called “Desktop Connect” for iPad.  It supports both VNC and Microsoft RDP and claims to be the only app that will automatically discover all computers on your network (Windows, Mac, OSX and Linux)  that are set up for remote access.  It did.  In almost no time, I was amazed to be using my desktop PC from my iPad.

Performance is not 1 for 1 here.  If you try to watch a movie via Flash, you will not get an acceptable frame rate.  However, simple, turn-based flash games are perfectly usable and you can multitask to your heart’s content.  You can also get to files on your PC without having to figure out how to transfer them to the iPad. 

When I first installed this app, I thought it would be more for the coolness factor than for anything else, but I was surprised to find that I actually used it fairly often.  When I am downstairs relaxing and need to print or view something that is on my PC, starting this app is far easier than trudging upstairs, sitting down, and logging in.  My only recommendation is that you switch Touchscreen Mode to “On”.

Up next, my son and I use the iPad for science! 

First of all, the performance is MUCH better.  I run a quad core machine and it seems that W7 makes much better use of that power.  The UI just snaps and the usability touches are excellent.  The new task bar icons are not as wide as the old ones, so you can fit many more icons on the bar without having to scroll.  Also, hovering over the icon brings up thumbnails of all open windows grouped under that icon.  For example, if I have 4 IE windows opened, only the one IE icon will appear on the task bar, but when I hover over it all 4 windows appear as selectable thumbnails.

What interests me is the XP compatibility mode that uses Virtual PC technology to run programs that have breaking changes in Windows 7.  Perhaps a post on that later.

Now the Windows 7 RC1 is available for download and the news for PC owners is good.  It improves in almost every area.  In addition to making the user interface even more efficient and friendly at the same time (quite a feat!), it brings the benefits of virtualization to consumers through XP mode.     The first thing installers will notice is an option to check compatibility online.  This takes you to a download page for Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor beta.  The Advisor goes through your system and connected devices and warns you about incompatibilities and actions you can take to deal with them.

I am installing the RC today.  Look for a post on how it went tomorrow.