Windows 7 drivers

[Sprinkler Guy]

Does anyone know when/if Motion will release Windows 7 specific drivers for their product? I am dual booting my LE1700 with XP and enjoying the new OS very much.

I'm missing the fingerprint reader and the device manager shows one other "unknown device", not sure what it is or what other functionality I'm missing.

I was looking at Motion's website and there's little or no mention of Win 7.

I am thrilled with the TIP!! Huge improvement over XP. Will surely be buying this OS when the beta license expires.

[CFCassidy]

Agree. The TIP is a huge improvement. I see the same "unknown device" as you and could not install the Omnipoint software. Beta drivers exist for the fingerprint reader. I've got them installed, but you need software to do anything with the HW.

You can download the Authentec drivers here:
http://www.authentec.com/win7beta32.cfm for 32-bit and
http://www.authentec.com/win7beta64.cfm for 64-bit

I did a clean install of Windows and so lost access to Acronis True Image. I can't find the install package anywhere on the original disk image or on the application CD. Does anyone know where the setup file is? Is it on a separate CD?

[CFCassidy]

I got OmniPass to install by setting the setup.exe file for Vista compatibility mode and and to run in Administrator mode. It still won't run though. It complains about the OS version. I set the securapp executible to compatiblity mode, but then it crashes. Oh well...

[Sprinkler Guy]

Originally Posted by CFCassidy

I got OmniPass to install by setting the setup.exe file for Vista compatibility mode and and to run in Administrator mode. It still won't run though. It complains about the OS version. I set the securapp executible to compatiblity mode, but then it crashes. Oh well...

Motion and it's vendors will start working on these issue eventually right? They have to know there are folks out there that aren't running vista on their tablets because of the bloat. I think there will be a fairly big move from XP tablet to win 7 quickly don't you?

[bmhome1]

Tablet manufacturers didn't leap to offer Vista drivers for their tablets and most never did for models not currently sold. Microsoft and major hardware vendors filled the gaps but most drivers needed to be installed in XP compatibility mode. I wouldn't expect Windows 7 to be any different.

[CFCassidy]

I do not expect Motion will provide a Windows 7 version of OmniPass. Softex is already selling OmniPass v6 (vs. v5 which was bundled with the LE1700). I doubt Softex will work on a Windows 7 compatible version of v5 at this point.

They will probably do the drivers, although my tablet is very stable with the Vista drivers and Windows 7 so I'm not sure it matters much.

[Steve S]

<<...I doubt Softex will work on a Windows 7 compatible version of v5...>>

...I agree with Charlie; the reality of life is that if you are an application developer, you don't make any money on extending the useful life of old products (and, I am sure, you would rightly argue that enough has changed in the hardware and OS to justify a new edition of your product...)

<<...Motion and it's vendors will start working on these issue eventually right?..>>
<<...They will probably do the drivers...>>

...Good questions. Regarding Motion, their recent financial and management woes imply to me that they are likely to be more conservative during the next period of time... I'm not sure I would look to them to be too innovative or daring (much as Fujitsu has been for years) but rather to tightly focus on their core business where their users stick with what works and don't jump from OS to OS without good reason...

Regarding Win7 and drivers, I've been surprised at how many Vista-vintage drivers work with Win7 with no problems whatsoever. Is it possible that one of Microsoft's strategies for Win7 is to make the interfaces (and hence the driver codes) as similar to Vista as possible... so that most drivers will need little or no updating...???

[CFCassidy]

Vista introduced a new driver model which is why so many things broke. Windows 7 is following the Vista model which is why so many things work right.

The main change in Vista was moving most or all drivers to user mode instead of kernel mode. This makes it a lot easier to change the OS underneath the drivers.

[negative1]

i agree with the thought there wont' be a lot of older device
driver for windows 7..

if xp/vista already work, why not stick with them?

unless you have a new application that only works in windows 7,
why switch?

with older machines, there might not be a great of a performance
gain, when switching from xp to windows 7 (or at least not that
i've noticed yet).. it might depend more on if you've upgraded
your ram/hard disk..

later
-1

[oztabletpc]

Good news, you don't need to worry about omnipass in Win 7 as fingerprint login is inbuilt!

Just download and install the Authentec driver package above, go to the control panel and search for "bio"... You can enable it there.

I've posted full instructions here: http://www.brettg.com/2009/08/12/win...more-omnipass/

It is much faster and simpler than omnipass, but it lacks some of the more extensive features like the password manager. I never used them, so I won't miss them.

Now l don't have to wait for omnipass to load on boot, just press the ctrl+alt+delete key and swipe.

Also, on some of the comments above, I think that motion are doing a great job of innovating the slate at the moment. The J3400 and new Hydis display are exceptional.

Having that display on the new MkII F5 is also an awesome move from Motion. The Core2 Duo in the new F5 is fantastic performance boost too.

I'm writing this on the new F5 with Windows 7. It works perfectly and I now find it hard to switch back to my Vista machine. I had windows 7 on my LE1700 too and that was a good improvement over vista.

I'm not familiar with their financial situation, but l am aware of further innovations in the pipeline for Motion. Keep an eye on Motion over the next 12 months...