Windows 7 Beta 1 Date

[LarryFlowers]

Keith Combs "Blahg" on the TechNet web site seems to indicate that Beta 1 DVD's of Windows 7 will be available on or about Jan 13, 2009. As these discs are associated with the Microsoft Developers Conference, it probably means that Beta 1 will also be available on the TechNet web site at the same time.

http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2008/12/02/i-know-where-you-can-get-windows-7-beta-1-dvd-s-shhhhh.aspx

[LarryFlowers]

The Following Statement comes from Paul Thurott who is an extremely "wired" insider of all things Microsoft...

There's been a lot of speculation about when Microsoft would ship Windows 7, its eagerly awaited follow-up to Windows Vista. So far, I've suggested that the company would ship Windows 7 far earlier than most people thought. But now I'm ready to make a number of more specific predictions myself, and add to the speculation.

It's pretty widely known that Microsoft will ship a beta release (and a public one at that) of Windows 7 in January. This beta will be the only beta and it will be followed by a single release candidate build, and then the final version, all in quick succession.

I expect Windows 7 to be finalized by April 2009 at the latest, and to be completed simultaneously with Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is also due in April. (Windows 7 and SP2 share more code than people realize as well, by the way.) Windows 7 will be made broadly available to consumers and business customers no later than June 2009.

[smiddy]

The Following Statement comes from Paul Thurott who is an extremely "wired" insider of all things Microsoft...

There's been a lot of speculation about when Microsoft would ship Windows 7, its eagerly awaited follow-up to Windows Vista. So far, I've suggested that the company would ship Windows 7 far earlier than most people thought. But now I'm ready to make a number of more specific predictions myself, and add to the speculation.

It's pretty widely known that Microsoft will ship a beta release (and a public one at that) of Windows 7 in January. This beta will be the only beta and it will be followed by a single release candidate build, and then the final version, all in quick succession.

I expect Windows 7 to be finalized by April 2009 at the latest, and to be completed simultaneously with Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is also due in April. (Windows 7 and SP2 share more code than people realize as well, by the way.) Windows 7 will be made broadly available to consumers and business customers no later than June 2009.

Thanks Larry, as always, you're the man when it comes to these things!

[deltafowler]

Windows 7 ran well on the laptop I tried it on.
It consumed about 30% more resources up and running than XP. Nowhere near as much as the original kernel version of Vista.

I have yet to try it on a more powerful desktop.
Maybe after hunting season ;)

[Lee L]

I would certainly give credence to what Thurrot says. IF they come out that fast, they are really turning Vista in Windows ME part 2.

[BattleZone]

I would certainly give credence to what Thurrot says. IF they come out that fast, they are really turning Vista in Windows ME part 2.

WinME was HORRIFIC. Vista is pretty good, though certainly not without some flaws. I don't think that's a very fair comparison. If it wasn't for Win98's 512MB memory limit, WinME would have never existed.

[deltafowler]

SP1 in Vista basically changed you over to Server 2008.
That was a very smart move on behalf of MS, instead of trying to fix the original flawed Vista kernel.

Windows 7 builds on that, without having to deal with baggage from the original Vista.