It's Official.. kind of.. Windows 7 Beta

[LarryFlowers]

While Microsoft remains silent about the exact dates.. several things are now apparently true...

1. There will be only 1 Windows 7 Beta
2. There will be only 1 Release Candidate
3. The Beta will be publicly available to all comers via Microsoft.com "mid January".
4. RC 1 is scheduled hand in hand with the release of Vista and Windows 2008 SP2's in April 2009.
5. The mutual consensus target release of the final Windows 7 is timed for the college buying season.

As I said up front, Microsoft isn't saying anything publicly, but the usual writers who seem to always be the source of the best and most accurate "leaks" are all on the same timetable. My suspicion is that this is Microsoft's way of putting the information out there without putting themselves in a position of missing a date in case anything goes amiss.

One thing remains abundantly clear, the likelyhood of any device or application that currently works with Windows Vista NOT working with Windows 7 is remote. I have not read a single review mention any difficulties.

[dave29]

good to here, i for one cant wait until i can get this loaded onto one of my pc's

[MIAMI1683]

good to here, i for one cant wait until i can get this loaded onto one of my pc's

It's already loaded here slacker :p . Good to know it's going to beta now :D

[smiddy]

Thanks Larry, as always good information man!

[dave29]

It's already loaded here slacker :p . Good to know it's going to beta now :D

i havent been successful burning an ISO............:eek2: cant find a good link for the latest version.....

[LarryFlowers]

Not worth the effort... in a couple of weeks you will have access to a legitimate Beta 1 with features turned on that are not present in the current stuff floating around. Patience Grasshopper! :)


i havent been successful burning an ISO............:eek2: cant find a good link for the latest version.....

[deltafowler]

It's already loaded here slacker :p . Good to know it's going to beta now :D

What he said.
My 30 day trial has expired :lol:

[deltafowler]

i havent been successful burning an ISO............:eek2: cant find a good link for the latest version.....

http://www.forteinc.com/agent/binaries.php
Merry Christmas!

[Hansen]

Thanks Larry for the update.

I'm looking forward to trying Windows 7 but wonder what is the best way to install it for testing...set up PC as a dual boot with Windows 7 and existing Vista install, or run Windows 7 via virtual machine?

I assume the beta will have the 64 bit version available to everyone?

[dave29]

Not worth the effort... in a couple of weeks you will have access to a legitimate Beta 1 with features turned on that are not present in the current stuff floating around. Patience Grasshopper! :)

who's Patience? i'm not sure if i have met her:lol:

[smiddy]

who's Patience? i'm not sure if i have met her:lol:

I'm hearing she's in East St. Louis in one of those clubs there, performs nightly. :D

[phat78boy]

Thanks Larry for the update.

I'm looking forward to trying Windows 7 but wonder what is the best way to install it for testing...set up PC as a dual boot with Windows 7 and existing Vista install, or run Windows 7 via virtual machine?

I assume the beta will have the 64 bit version available to everyone?

Until I get a RC version, I virtual machine all these betas. When I beta OS's, I'm more looking for feature and software capability...not hardware issues as I always run current gen hardware.

[LarryFlowers]

I have a test bed PC that I will use for a clean install and then I will put a copy inside Microsofts Virtual PC 2007 on my primary PC. If you use only a single PC, I would recommend the Virtual PC method until you feel confortable with running on it all the time.

I suspect that this one will be pretty easy to live with, there won't be the driver and software issues that there were on Vista.


Until I get a RC version, I virtual machine all these betas. When I beta OS's, I'm more looking for feature and software capability...not hardware issues as I always run current gen hardware.

[Mark Holtz]

I wonder if us Vista 64-bit Ultimate users will get a free upgrade. So far, we feel like getting the short shrift.

[Ken S]

I wonder if us Vista 64-bit Ultimate users will get a free upgrade. So far, we feel like getting the short shrift.

I shook the Microsoft Magic 8-Ball for you..

Signs point to NO.

I think that's a bit optimistic.

[smiddy]

I wonder if us Vista 64-bit Ultimate users will get a free upgrade. So far, we feel like getting the short shrift.

Yeah, Like Microsoft uses a shareware model, right! :lol:

You do spark a decent quesiton though, will the beta have a 64-bit version? If so I may give it a go with my new i7 system. :D

[Ken S]

Yeah, Like Microsoft uses a shareware model, right! :lol:

You do spark a decent quesiton though, will the beta have a 64-bit version? If so I may give it a go with my new i7 system. :D

8-Ball

Yes

[LarryFlowers]

Yep... 64bit will be all the rage! I recently upgraded from 32 to 64 bit Vista Ultimate as a practice round. Had very few software/hardware issues. If you are not already acquainted with Virtual PC 2007, you might want to work with it.

I will run the Windows 7 Beta and release candidate in a Virtual PC 2007 window on my primary PC and after the release of the final version of Windows 7, I will probably run a copy of Vista in Virtual PC for awhile.

The likelihood of any free upgrades is somewhere between zero and no way... unless you buy Vista or a Vista equipped PC within 90 days of the official release of Windows 7.


Yeah, Like Microsoft uses a shareware model, right! :lol:

You do spark a decent quesiton though, will the beta have a 64-bit version? If so I may give it a go with my new i7 system. :D

[looney2ns]

While Microsoft remains silent about the exact dates.. several things are now apparently true...

1. There will be only 1 Windows 7 Beta
2. There will be only 1 Release Candidate
3. The Beta will be publicly available to all comers via Microsoft.com "mid January".
4. RC 1 is scheduled hand in hand with the release of Vista and Windows 2008 SP2's in April 2009.
5. The mutual consensus target release of the final Windows 7 is timed for the college buying season.

As I said up front, Microsoft isn't saying anything publicly, but the usual writers who seem to always be the source of the best and most accurate "leaks" are all on the same timetable. My suspicion is that this is Microsoft's way of putting the information out there without putting themselves in a position of missing a date in case anything goes amiss.

One thing remains abundantly clear, the likelyhood of any device or application that currently works with Windows Vista NOT working with Windows 7 is remote. I have not read a single review mention any difficulties.


Yeah, but what about all the equipment that worked just fine with XP that STILL won't work with Vista!

[Ken S]

Yeah, but what about all the equipment that worked just fine with XP that STILL won't work with Vista!

If you're using equipment where there wasn't a driver written to support it in Vista or it's not powerful enough to run Vista then stay on XP. Over time Microsoft will stop supporting the OS with patches and security fixes but that's the case with everything we buy.

[LarryFlowers]

What equipment are you still having problems with?


Yeah, but what about all the equipment that worked just fine with XP that STILL won't work with Vista!