Windows 7 BETA

[Bob007]

Not seen them yet so here are the linkages.

32 bit EN DVD iso 2.4gig

64 bit EN DVD iso 3.2gig

Keys you can get from MS, they have problems atm but releases have grace period so not needed right away.

Also

MP3 files
When MP3 files are added (either manually or automatically) to either the Windows Media Player or the Windows Media Center library, or if the file metadata is edited with Windows Explorer, several seconds of audio data may be permanently removed from the start of the file. This issue occurs when files contain thumbnails or other metadata of significant size before importing or editing them. To avoid this, take the following steps:

To protect your MP3 files
1. Before you install this Beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the computer, including those on removable media or network shares.
2. Install the Beta release of Windows 7; then install this update (KB961367).

Source, Technet plus.

Update and Problem applies to 32bit and 64bit.

Remember its a Beta and as such, treated as one. you'll have problems as everyone else will.

[Kryten]

But more than likely less problems than some folks have with Vista
It's a very solid and stable release, slightly surprisingly, takes half the installed space that Vista Basic does (this is Ultimate, remember!) and runs quicker than XP on most decent machines. Well worth a look for those with a little time and curiosity running spare.

[Milkshake]

Been trying to get a download of this, but having issues. Will try again - looking forward to having a sneaky peaky

[Kryten]

Best bet is to find a torrent for it, install without a key and you'll have 30 days of leeway until you can register with MS for a key

[Milkshake]

The main download keeps cacking out on me at around 400-500MB - feels like it just disconnects. Boo :S

[Earl]

Got this running in vmware with just a gig of ram, seems to be faster than my main OS which is running the vmware client, OSX.

[Bob007]

32 bit image was stopping at about 300 - 400 mb on me a few times. Managed to get the 64 bit image no problems. This is one of the reasons MS has stopped issueing keys (had stopped ? not checked, just woke up, need tea :P)

Edit: Windows 7 keys avail from MS again.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

You need a live ID (msn loggin), click here and follow instructions, Key in on same screen as download button.

[Kryten]

They are apparently just circulating the same few keys for each version, but I've not really looked into that to confirm it - so if all else fails, a) phone MS for a key or b) google round, there's a shedload of available keys.

[MYstIC G]

Installed this on my old box because I'd wiped it the other week to turn into a NAS and hadn't bothered finishing.

Given the box is under spec for the beta I'm very impressed so far, other than the usual job of having to feed the installer my SATA card drivers (which was much easier than in the past), it installed very quickly, runs faster than XP and so far no noticable problems.

Will install some stuff over the next few days and see what happens next.

[Kryten]

Few bugs that either I've noticed or I've been informed of by other people:

Older Vista geforce drivers will give a pale/out of gamma appearance in OpenGL software.
Games in Start Menu (windows games) can cause Explorer to crash or even BSOD
Some "issues" with Photoshop CS4
Slight performance issues with Crysis

Personally Crysis was the first game I installed to judge performance and it ran a little quicker than Vista here, so I can only guess there's a lot of driver work involved

[Big G]

Sounds promising from what I hear, I hope there is a robust vista -> 7 upgrade path?

[MYstIC G]

From what I've seen Vista -> 7 is the _only_ upgrade path. It told me to fuck off when I tried it from XP straight up to 7. Perhaps M$ intended vista to be hated so they could coin it by getting everyone to buy this like magic fast stable version of windows?

[Vae]

I've been meaning to link this in here for a few days now
xkcd - A Webcomic - Windows 7

[Edmond]

ok, this might be a stupid question, but i'm not that tech savvy, but does 7 run on XP or just Vista?


*waits for the flames*

[dysfunction]

7 is a replacement/Upgrade of XP or Vista.

You can dual boot to Windows 7 if you have XP or Vista