Anyone going to try the beta version? http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/microsoft-relea.html
You can probably guess my answer. ;)
Probably the same as mine. ;D
One person (so far) on American forum has installed the 64 bit version and said that it takes up 14-16GB on a NTFS-formatted partition.
I've spent enough years doing beta testing, I'm happy enough to let others do the testing for me nowadays.
If it will multi-boot without destroying the rest I will give it a go. I bit of research required first I think
Thinking of beta-testing reminded me of Berkley Studios and the After Dark flying toaster screen saver. Anyone else used that?
Video here (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cm7tv5cM8g) for those who have no idea what I'm going on about. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 08, 2009, 18:08:31
Thinking of beta-testing reminded me of Berkley Studios and the After Dark flying toaster screen saver. Anyone else used that?
Video here (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cm7tv5cM8g) for those who have no idea what I'm going on about. :)
Yes, I remember that one, did you Beta test it Rik ?
I will try the Beta of W7 in Sandboxie tomorrow
I did, Alan, one of the many weird and wonderful betas I've been on (I did font testing for Adobe and Monotype too :)).
I'll try it after first making an image of my working, efficient and lovely Vista Basic. It could be interesting as I could compare it with y setup as it runs now, very well by the way. Vista is nice. ;D
I could be tempted... :eek4:
Quote from: cavillas on Jan 08, 2009, 19:10:57
I'll try it after first making an image of my working, efficient and lovely Vista Basic. It could be interesting as I could compare it with y setup as it runs now, very well by the way. Vista is nice. ;D
Without dissing Vista as i know you do like it, why is microshaft in such a hurry to get 7 out in the marketplace then i wonder?
I'll definitely give it a try. Beta or not, it can't be worse than Vista. ;)
Quote from: Myst on Jan 08, 2009, 21:30:58
Without dissing Vista as i know you do like it, why is microshaft in such a hurry to get 7 out in the marketplace then i wonder?
Falling sales and hard times?
Quote from: Sebby on Jan 08, 2009, 21:43:41
I'll definitely give it a try. Beta or not, it can't be worse than Vista. ;)
with the right gear Sebby Vista 64 bit works a dream and so does 32 bit even on laptops I have seen quite a few that hit a score of 5 now, to be honest like Rik I am happy as I am beta testing is not my forte anymore, and even when 7 comes out im staying put, its reached a point where I have what I want and cannot be fussed to keep trying out another new OS, if its not broken, leave it well alone, even after a service pack ;)
With all that I say about Vista, I don't think it's terrible, but I'm not the only one that dislikes it, Gary. It must be the most rejected Microsoft OS ever, and Microsoft have effectively written it off, what with Windows 7 coming fairly soon.
QuoteIt must be the most rejected Microsoft OS ever
Windows ME must be close :)
I think I may give windows 7 a try, but not in beta. Windows 7 is after all what vista should have been but wasn't.....
Quote from: somanyholes on Jan 09, 2009, 14:51:06
Windows ME must be close :)
I forgot about that. :eek4: ;D
I didn't, that's why I skipped Vista. >:D
:hehe:
Server is busy :thumbd: They will only allow 2.5 million total downloads
I'm not surprised, Steve. Perhaps it's time to look elsewhere? :whistle:
2.4Gb download :eek4: 4 days by utorrent. :eyebrow:
I think I'll pass then. On my line that would be a very long download indeed.
Now available through the UK site only.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx
I am getting busy on 32bit version
Me too on the 64-bit.
and now it is too busy to give the "Server too busy" page, it just times out :D
404 Error now. ::)
It's not going too well!
Its available on torrent [link removed by Simon] Kaspersky keeps complaining about Trojans so not desperately keen to carry on although it is catching them. It was coming down at a reasonable rate circa 4-5hours.
Please delete if you feel this link is inappropriate.
I think it's probably safer not to give the link, if it's suspect, Steve. If people want to find it on torrents, they can do so at their own risk. :)
Tech help is online
(http://99thastag.com/membersftp/j69o/mssupport.jpg)
D/loading between 140k - 240k at mo
oh and
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso (32 bit)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO (64bit)
Are they the legitimate download links, Myst? 32 bit is running nicely for me.
Thanks Myst, good links d/l at 396k right now
Yes, they are the legit microsoft links
:karmic:
Left mine over night, this morning it had completed but short - only 1.4gb rather than 2.43!
You guys have any luck?
Nope. Just started mine again, Myst.
El Reg (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/10/winows_7_beta_delay/) is reporting a delay:
QuoteMicrosoft has postponed broad availability of the first Windows 7 beta in order to keep up with anticipated download demand.
According to reports from across the web, both the Windows 7 download page and Microsoft.com were intermittently unreachable earlier today as would-be downloaders angled for position. A Microsoft spokeswoman has confirmed that the sites saw unusually heavy traffic this morning.
Chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday that the beta build 7000 would be made available to the public today, Friday. The build was released to subscribers on the company's MSDN and TechNet sites on Wednesday.
Microsoft said Friday afternoon, though, that it's adding additional infrastructure - likely meaning servers - to Microsoft.com before it posts the beta. "Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta," a spokeswoman told us.
The Microsoft Windows blog said it's adding additional infrastructure to "ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta".
Just read on American forum that there is no email program in Windows 7, you have to add one.
Doing mine again too - 42% at present.
Apparently you need an activation key othewise its only a 30 day trial.
hmm strange again - as i type this the d/load has stopped and finalised at 1.02gb
Quote from: Noreen on Jan 10, 2009, 11:31:24
Just read on American forum that there is no email program in Windows 7, you have to add one.
I don't think that's a bad thing. Most of us don't use Outlook Express, I'd imagine, and so there's no need for it to be there. Windows Live Mail now exists, which is far superior to Outlook Express, yet they have to co-exist. If an email program doesn't exist in the first place, it gives the user more flexibility.
I wonder if it's anything to do with competition issues.
Further post from American forum (from Microsoft) just in case that it's of interest.
QuoteWhat you need to know before installing the Beta
Thank you for participating in the Windows 7 Beta program. To help make sure you have a great experience, please read this section before you install the software—even if you've previously been a beta tester.
The Windows 7 Beta is a pre-release version of Windows. While we consider this a stable and high-quality beta, it's not the finished product. It could crash your computer or cause you to lose important files or information.
The Beta will stop working on August 1, 2009. To continue using your PC, please be prepared to reinstall a prior version of Windows or a subsequent release of Windows 7 before the expiration date. You won't be able to upgrade from the Beta to the final retail version of Windows 7.
The date is interesting...
I only got 985Mb last night. :( I'm having second thoughts on this now, as it's more or less forcing you to purchase it at the end of the beta period, and at the moment, we don't know what they are going to charge for it. I know I could reinstall Vista, but I only have recovery discs, and I'm not sure whether I want to take the risk.
Well, once you have it, you can act as DVD burner to the forum. ;)
Well, as I said, I'm not sure I'm going to bother. :)
I have downloaded from Myst's 32bit link, the image is about 2.6Mb as expected, but during install it claims that image.wim is missing and I can't find it on the disk, I have no idea what is wrong.
Is this Beta build number 7000 ?
I got only a partial download from Myst's link, whether I'll bother again I'm not sure as I believe this method doesn't give you a product key. I know you get 30 days but I'm led to believe there will be huge demand for the 2.5million product keys
Do this to get a product key. http://blog.hznet.nl/2009/01/10/how-to-receive-a-valid-windows-7-key
I did it and it gives you a product key but the download link takes you back to the windows7 homepage. Will these keys work or are they going to do a reissue when they get the servers back up and running. I pressed back on my browser hoping to try the download button again and it gave me a different product key! Got two of them now if they work. I think I read that one key works on up to 3 PC's?
The offical d/load site is now fully running along with the activation codes too.
Just need to log in with your passport /Live ID
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
I won't be trialing it but I will almost certainly be upgrading to the retail version and I expect Microsoft to allow me to do this on all four PCs/laptops we have running Vista for free.
Vista is in my opinion the most rancid operating system ever produced. It's certainly not fit for purpose and therefore it's only right that they deliver a working product with a free upgrade path for those of us that have paid for Vista.
Quote from: zappaDPJ on Jan 11, 2009, 00:18:52
I won't be trialing it but I will almost certainly be upgrading to the retail version and I expect Microsoft to allow me to do this on all four PCs/laptops we have running Vista for free.
Vista is in my opinion the most rancid operating system ever produced. It's certainly not fit for purpose and therefore it's only right that they deliver a working product with a free upgrade path for those of us that have paid for Vista.
Well my pc came with Vista 64 bit and it works great, runs fast, we all have different views though, for me its great and windows 7 is not going to be that drastically different from Vista sp2 from what I have seen so far but never the less it will not be a huge leap forward in features and GUI, I will see when SP1 comes out in 2010/11 and what people think. I think with Windows 7 64 bit computing would be the way to step anyway, all the moaning over Vista this or Vista that is, well its dull now. People seem to forget what xp was like in the beginning and the nightmare patching hell we went through with all the security issues while we sat and waited for SP2. God help the people who had to update XP on dialup in those long years between SP1 and SP2, let alone the mess that SP3 caused some AMD systems, we all want and see things differently, and our computing needs are no exception which is good and that helps us progress, as far as Rancid goes though, well that's pushing it a bit far I think, now if we were talking about my grandmothers suit pudding :whistle:
I have got Windows 7 running on a spare hard drive, it seems to be very stable once up and running.
They have calmed the hand holding down a bit, but it still wants to set up a "Home Group" every time I try to add it to my existing network though.
It had the latest drivers for my ATI HD4850 video and all the other mainstream hardware built in, so that's a big improvement.
It looks and feels like a mature Windows environment, now I need to find where all the tweaks have been hidden.
A vast improvement on where Vista was at this stage of the roll-out.
I downloaded and tried the windows 7 but find it much the same as vista. It is no faster and doesn't seem to have many differences from Vista so I can't see what all the fuss is about. I will stick with Vista as it is stable, fast and reliable on my little machine. I have a Celeron 432 with nvidia 8400gs 256mb card and 2Gb memory with all upgrades and latest drivers for everything so my Vista perfomance will never go above 3.8 but I can run everything extremely well so no use in changing. :thumbd:
Another post from American forum, that may be of interest. It was in answer to a query about drivers.
QuoteFor now that's all there is, but it's incorrect to say that all Vista drivers are going to be compatible. For example, I am unable to use the VMware SVGA II driver with Windows 7. It doesn't work. I'm stuck with the Windows VGA driver (which gives decent resolution and colour depth, but no 2D acceleration)
Drivers are going to need testing and revising. Apparently though, recent Nvidia drivers (e.g. 181.x) do work in Windows 7.
I wonder whether hardware manufacturers will do better this time around?
Another post from that forum.
QuoteIt destroyed my machine....I installed it as an upgrade over Vista Ultimate SP1 and it installed ok but when it came to desktop it gave me the crash window saying windows halted loading to prevent computer damage...I did what it said and tried again and a load echoing came out and then the blue screen. Glad I made an image before doing this with Acronis...8 minutes and I was back to where I was prior. Maybe it didn't like my installed programs??? people have been raving on how stable it is...Not for my rig it isn't.
He was told that he should have done a full install.
Ah the joys of beta testing. :)
I've got the 64-bit version waiting to be installed, but I've got to resize a partition, so I think I'll leave it for a bit. :)
I'm now running Windows 7 x64. First impressions are that it's a massive improvement over Vista, even if a lot of it looks much the same.
Internet Explorer 8 is just ghastly, and seems incapable of displaying most websites properly. I didn't think MS could make the next version of their browser less compliant than the last. :laugh:
I'm not convinced about the look. I can see what they're trying to achieve (basically something more like Mac OS X!) but I can't help but feel it looks a bit tacky.
MS can do anything, Seb. :) So, do you think you'll convert, as a first reaction?
At the moment, no, but that's because things have just taken a turn for the worst. I was just trying to install the critical update re MP3 corruption and I got a message saying something like "disk structure corrupt." I ran chkdsk a couple of times, which fixed a lot of errors, but the problem remains. A quick Google reveals I'm not alone.
That aside, I'm not sure. Coming back into XP felt much nicer. Vista and Windows 7 just feel a bit "fluffy" to me. I'm undecided at this stage.
Thanks, Seb. I quite miss DOS, so I know what you mean. On any Windows machine, my first job is to turn off all the eye candy and bloat.
You'll have a hard time doing so on Windows 7. :eek4:
That sounds bad. :(
I've just tried to do you a screenshot, but Paint won't save the image. Either Windows 7 is seriously buggy (even at the beta stage) or it's something to do with the fact that I'm running the x64 version, but I can't see why that would be.
Time to get the camera set up on a tripod then, Seb. :)
Here's a screenshot of windows 7, with all the eye candy and bloat turned off. :hehe:
[attachment deleted by admin]
That would be the Linux version would it, Ted? :)
:lol:
I thought it was for a minute!
I've now formatted the Windows 7 partition and will perhaps give the 32-bit version a go. It was virtually unusable...
Quote from: Rik on Jan 11, 2009, 18:07:46
That would be the Linux version would it, Ted? :)
Its called Winux 7 ;D
That would be the one Abba did the song about, The Winux takes it all? ;D
:grn:
:ithank:
That's very kind of you, Ted, I now feel it's all been worthwhile. I'd like to thank my agent, my manager, my personal trainer... ;D
Quote from: Rik on Jan 11, 2009, 18:30:22
That's very kind of you, Ted, I now feel it's all been worthwhile. I'd like to thank my agent, my manager, my personal trainer... ;D
I think if i had your personal trainer, i'd be asking for my money back! :whistle:
:rofl: :karmic:
So true. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 11, 2009, 18:35:09
:rofl: :karmic:
So true. :)
:sry: :legpull: but! :ithank:
I've now installed the 32-bit version and things seem much better. I installed Avast in the 64-bit version, so that could have been the problem (on some forums, that's what most people said they were using, which is why I installed it).
Anyway, after installing the 32-bit version, I found this page (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-7.aspx), and then installed Kaspersky for Windows 7 (90 trial, which is good enough for now).
You must install this (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a754008b-d574-4e39-b4ba-67b859a242b7&displaylang=en) Windows 7 update as soon as you've installed Windows to prevent your MP3 collection being corrupted (64-bit update here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0C56BF3C-9370-4FDA-B4C8-5DC63D55626D&displaylang=en))!
Now that things are working properly, I'm liking Windows 7 more. I'll report back in a few days. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 11, 2009, 18:30:22
That's very kind of you, Ted, I now feel it's all been worthwhile. I'd like to thank my agent, my manager, my personal trainer... ;D
Here's just the thing for your personal trainer Rik (http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/Odor-Eaters-Trainer-Tamers-x-1-Pair.html) ;)
Quote from: Sebby on Jan 11, 2009, 22:12:25Now that things are working properly, I'm liking Windows 7 more. I'll report back in a few days. :)
Indeed, keep us posted, Seb, although I think I'll be chickening out for now. :)
That's the decision I should have made, Simon. :)
I suppose having described Vista as 'rancid' I'd better explain myself with a few examples. I have Vista on four computers, 2 PCs and 2 laptops.
My gaming computer is something that couldn't be bought off the shelf. It's a water cooled quad core, over-clocked to 3.8GHz with 4GB of 2000MHz rated RAM and an HD 4870 x2 graphics card. If I run a non-windowed graphics intensive application or game and use the Windows key to minimise, that PC can take up to 90 seconds to return to a desktop running Aero or 1-2 seconds using Windows XP PRO. Even with Aero switched off it can take up to 30 seconds before the PC becomes usable.
Explorer will regularly freeze on all 4 systems when browsing the net. In general the only way to shut Explorer down at that point is to key to the Task Manager. Occasionally if left long enough an error message will pop up proclaiming that Explorer has stopped responding and is searching for a solution. The solution is always the same, the browser window disappears with no indication of what actually occurred.
I bought my daughter a well specified laptop for Xmas and spent the entire afternoon fixing all the problems that cropped up when Vista tried to initialise for the first time. Having fed in various bits of requested data, Vista proceeded to produce countless DOS boxes full of initialization errors and never actually made it to the desktop. When I finally got it to work I set it up for wireless networking and within a couple of hours it spontaneously rebooted to install an update without warning. My fault entirely as I'd forgotten to switch off auto updates but there should have been a warning. As a result an hour or two of typing was lost and that particular update appeared to be the start of the non responding browser issues I've had across all four systems.
Vista on my work's PC won't boot at all without an empty USB drive inserted and when I installed it on the laptop I use for work the battery life went from around 3-5 hours to around 2. This is entirely due to the insane amount of hard drive churning that occurs every time I so much look at the infernal machine.
These are just a few of the problems I've encountered with Vista although there are many more. It also annoys me intensely that I can't run different backgrounds on a dual monitor system or delete a particular file when running as an administrator with UAC turned off but my biggest gripe is that it'll turn a state of the art super computer into a non-responsive pile of junk the minute you try and do something slightly hardware intensive. I like the look and general feel of Vista but it's just not viable in a heavy duty situation.
I'm afraid I'm sticking with rancid but I live in hope that Windows 7 will turn out to be what Vista should have been in the first place :)
Quote from: john on Jan 11, 2009, 22:20:48
Here's just the thing for your personal trainer Rik (http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/Odor-Eaters-Trainer-Tamers-x-1-Pair.html) ;)
;D It's not my feet which are the problem, John. :whistle:
Posters on American forum are saying that SUPERAntiSpyware crashes Windows 7.
I'm not surprised, it's probably going to take a while to get security apps playing nicely.
Quote from: zappaDPJ on Jan 12, 2009, 01:26:39
<snip>
I'm afraid I'm sticking with rancid but I live in hope that Windows 7 will turn out to be what Vista should have been in the first place :)
My experience of Vista hasn't been quite as bad, but the constant hard drive churning sounds very familiar, as does the general lack of responsiveness. What puzzles me, though, is why some users don't seem to have these problems. Many of them say it's because they have a high spec machine, but your situation is proof that it's not always the answer.
There's an update for Windows 7.
QuoteInstall this update to resolve live and recorded TV issues in Windows Media Center, recorded TV playback issues in Windows Media Player, and MP3 file corruption issues in Windows. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. This update is provided to you and licensed under the Windows 7 Pre-Release License Terms.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A754008B-D574-4E39-B4BA-67B859A242B7&displaylang=en
That's the one I posted in reply #81, Noreen. :)
Sorry, Sebby. :)
It's OK, better twice than never. :)
Indeed, especially given that your whole MP3 collection could be corrupted if you don't install it!
Hopefully this hasn't already been posted. :fingers: http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx
Who's counting. ;) :thumb:
One piece of information,which is goods news to me is the command prompt option in Vista, browse to a directory graphically and then shift and right click gives you an option to open command prompt here :karma:
:thnks:
Quote from: stevethegas on Jan 13, 2009, 18:35:10
One piece of information,which is goods news to me is the command prompt option in Vista, browse to a directory graphically and then shift and right click gives you an option to open command prompt here :karma:
This facility was available as a Microsoft WinXP Powertoy until it was removed as Vista was released.
You an still get it and safely install it in WinXP from HERE (http://wpkg.org/CmdHere_Powertoy), I occasionally find it useful
http://xkcd.com/528/ ;D
:rofl:
There's a few good ones there :thumb:
:lol:
Heartfelt, Glenn. :)
I have just installed Win 7 to a D630 laptop with no problems whatsoever, I did swap the HDU out first though
Let us know what you think. :)
Quote from: Glenn on Jan 14, 2009, 10:33:10
I have just installed Win 7 to a D630 laptop with no problems whatsoever, I did swap the HDU out first though
What are your first impressions? I'm quite liking it.
It's an improved version of Vista by the looks of things, IE8 has a few problems displaying some websites but so far I would give it :thumb:
With Firefox, it feels more responsive than IE8. Docking the laptop into the port replicator, and switching on my Canon MP610 printer, Win7 loaded the driver straight away, Vista need the drivers loading from CD, so it looks like there are several drivers available
Which is what MS did with XP, of course, Glenn, having had problems with manufacturers not providing drivers for Me.
That was one of the major issues with Vista on release, lack of drivers. Does 7 use Vista drivers as they're closely related? if so there should be few hardware issues now
MS showing the same ability to learn from history as our politicians, Steve. :(
Quote from: stevethegas on Jan 14, 2009, 17:22:46
That was one of the major issues with Vista on release, lack of drivers. Does 7 use Vista drivers as they're closely related? if so there should be few hardware issues now
Seems to use Vista drivers, I hae just added it to WHS to see if it will back it up, which it seems to be doing so far.
I love this public beta idea, we identify all the bugs for them and then charge us over £100 for the licensed version.
Seems to be ok on WHS I've heard, I wonder how many common clusters?
Quote from: Glenn on Jan 14, 2009, 13:41:36
It's an improved version of Vista by the looks of things, IE8 has a few problems displaying some websites but so far I would give it :thumb:
Yeah, IE8 is not great, but then I wasn't expecting much. Firefox works much better. :)
IE8 = IE Porn (allegedly) :angel:
I'm burning the disk now. I've not used a Windows system properly for a couple of years, so will be looking at it from a Linux user's perspective :)
I'll be very interested to hear what you think, Danni. :)
Short answer is: I quite like it. It's not as annoying as Vista, and it's actually a little faster than my Linux installation (though that may be because my Linux installation is running a web server and a ton of other stuff all at once).
It's not worth paying for, but if I could get it for free (legally) or it came with a computer I bought, I'd use it. I'd still have Linux on another computer though- there's not enough I can control on here.
I've got to say, I'm really liking it. I find myself using Windows 7 over XP now...
How is windows 7 at running games?
I would switch to the beta now but only if games werent affected
Swapped out the XP HDD for a spare blank, shoved in the Win7 DVD and rebooted. It couldn't (wouldn't) install because it detected (rightly) the drive was a bit iffy.
Quite impressed really as neither XP nor Vista in the past noticed the drive was borked, but both happily installed. Methinks it's off to the computer fair at the weekend because I can't find a 40Gb PATA HDD online.
It's a bit bonkers really because my first HDD was over £1 per megabyte, now I baulk at spending more than 50p per gigabyte.
It really highlights how cheap technology has got. :)
I bought my first HD in 1984. It was 10MB (that's not a typo!) and cost £300... :shake:
Quote from: Rik on Jan 21, 2009, 09:55:51
I bought my first HD in 1984. It was 10MB (that's not a typo!) and cost £300... :shake:
Amazing isn't it, Rik, the first one I bought was a 340Mb and cost me about £230, ordered a 1TB one for my Server yesterday £75. :)
If only everything else had come down in a similar way, Ray. New cars for a fiver, a house for £10. ;D (Mind you, the latter may come to pass... :o)
Quote from: Rik on Jan 21, 2009, 12:06:43
If only everything else had come down in a similar way, Ray. New cars for a fiver, a house for £10. ;D (Mind you, the latter may come to pass... :o)
This is very true, Rik. ;D
Quote from: Rik on Jan 21, 2009, 12:06:43
(Mind you, the latter may come to pass... :o)
:eek4: ;D
Interesting "New York Times" article. http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/21/technology/ptpogue22.4-413118.php
Interesting read. I've always believed Vista was rushed to the market before it was ready. Increasingly, 7 looks to be what Vista was meant to be. I think maybe it's time to move to a Mac. ;)
It definitely is, Rik. ;)
That said, I'll give Microsoft some credit as Windows 7 looks really good to me.
Can I add, "at last" to that. ;)
You can. :)
QuoteFirst off: thank you for your interest in beta testing Windows 7! As we near January 24th, we wanted to update everyone again on the next steps for the Windows 7 Beta. The amount of feedback we have received has been amazing and continues to pour in. We are at a point where we have more than enough beta testers and feedback coming in to meet our engineering needs, so we are beginning to plan the end of general availability for Windows 7 Beta..........
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/23/general-availability-for-the-windows-7-beta-to-end.aspx
Well as a confirmed XP addict I thought I would give Windows 7 a go on a spare computer. I should say that I have never used Vista but have reconciled myself to the fact that support for XP will stop one day and I will need to move on.
I am actually quite impressed. I had to reinstall because some drivers I installed for my sound card completely destroyed the system but now I have used a set of Vista drivers which are doing the job.
It will be interesting to see all the tweaks come along in the coming months to give it a few extra facilities, like an easily accessable command prompt. I already found people discovering tweaks to speed up the menu display and reduce the wait time when a program is killed at shutdown, just like XP.
Wonder how the guys testing it here are getting along?
I downloaded and tried to install the beta on Friday but I couldn't get the install to complete, it was getting to the stage where the install was finalising and the machine just froze, so I gave it up as a bad job and haven't tried it again. Seems reading the MS forums that this is not an uncommon problem.
From the reports I have read so far Windows 7 is a good step forward and users of Vista will be very happy with it as they will not notice any major changes but users of XP will notice the changes and wonder what the hell it is all about and be able to justify not changing to Vista in the first place and will sit there with a smug look on their face because they waited and did not have to admit they were wrong. :whistle:
Quite right, Den. :)
I hope that anyone who wants to try it noticed this part of the link in my above post.
QuoteStarting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.
February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.
February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn't finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.
I noted. ;)
Me too. ;)
I have it a try on a VM and have to say that, compared with my aborted test runs of Vista, I was pleasantly surprised (though I'm still not keen on Aero). So I've taken the plunge, wiped XP off my 2nd machine and installed 7 on that. (Incidentally, are they planning going as far as Windows 10? Or is the 7 of 9?)
So far so good. Got the ATI drivers on there, firefox works a treat, and one or two programs I use regularly (one in particular - SAM Broadcaster - was especially important on PC2) and all seem to be working.
The only thing I can't figure out is the performance index - which gives me a paltry 2.0 because of 3D gaming performance. Now it may not be the fastest card out there (ATI 1950GT) but it's still pretty quick - so I can't explain this. All other index scores are where I would expect them to be, and 3D Aero performance index is 6.9, so I'm not entirely trusting of the rating.
Now, there's just one more thing to do - GET MY DUAL BOOT WITH UBUNTU BACK. When will MS finally support grub so I don't have to go through the re-installing grub rigmarole every time I experiment with a new Win OS???
Steve
Quote from: D-Dan on Jan 26, 2009, 21:19:23
Now, there's just one more thing to do - GET MY DUAL BOOT WITH UBUNTU BACK. When will MS finally support grub so I don't have to go through the re-installing grub rigmarole every time I experiment with a new Win OS???
I've read a lot of positive reports about Grub4dos which seems address some of Grub problems Windows users experience.
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Grub4dos_tutorial
Not used it myself, but discovered it after I'd uninstalled Ubuntu for the nth time.
Quote from: D-Dan on Jan 26, 2009, 21:19:23
The only thing I can't figure out is the performance index - which gives me a paltry 2.0 because of 3D gaming performance. Now it may not be the fastest card out there (ATI 1950GT) but it's still pretty quick - so I can't explain this. All other index scores are where I would expect them to be, and 3D Aero performance index is 6.9, so I'm not entirely trusting of the rating.
Same here - I can only think it's due to early drivers.
Quote from: drummer on Jan 26, 2009, 22:28:29
I've read a lot of positive reports about Grub4dos which seems address some of Grub problems Windows users experience.
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Grub4dos_tutorial
Not used it myself, but discovered it after I'd uninstalled Ubuntu for the nth time.
The guide here has always worked for me - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
I use EasyBCD (http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/EasyBCD+Documentation+Home) with Vista and Ubuntu, seems to work ok for me with Grub installed to the Ubuntu partition. It will also allow an XP install and then restores the Vista MBR which the xp install "breaks"
I've been playing around with Win7 for around a week now and have come to the following conclusions;
1) It's pretty.
2) Icons a little confusing at times.
3) I can't figure out what it does that XP can't do equally well.
4) Seems to be an expensive update (eventually) which doesn't seem to serve any purpose other than to line
MS pockets.
5) Would I buy it ........ Nope !!!
6) Will dump it soon unless anyone out there can persuade me that this is 'triffic'.
Sounds like my feelings about Vista, Rick. I'm increasingly thinking that the way forward is to bite the bullet and learn Linux, or buy a Mac...
I'm no Vista fan, but I think that Windows 7 is a big step forward. Sure, XP can do the same things, but Its starting to look tired now. It's a bit like saying there's no point in upgrading a car for the sole reason that they all do the same thing, i.e. get you from A to B. :)
That's a valid argument in my book, Seb. :)
What can 7 do that Vista can't. Vista is so much nicer to use than XP so what is all the fuss about? Or is it just another bash Microsoft on the head time. People seem to forget that before windows came along computing was not as much fun (unless you were using Amiga Workbench) or is it that whatever they bring out some people will not like it. I can see some folk going to W7 and praising all the things that they turned their noses at up in Vista.
Quote from: Den on Feb 12, 2009, 20:40:05
What can 7 do that Vista can't. Vista is so much nicer to use than XP so what is all the fuss about? Or is it just another bash Microsoft on the head time. People seem to forget that before windows came along computing was not as much fun (unless you were using Amiga Workbench) or is it that whatever they bring out some people will not like it. I can see some folk going to W7 and praising all the things that they turned their noses at up in Vista.
As I said before, it's PRETTY, which just about sums it up in one word.
I don't believe in bashing microsoft over the head, after all, they have a living to make but not at my expense.
Quote from: Den on Feb 12, 2009, 20:40:05
What can 7 do that Vista can't. Vista is so much nicer to use than XP so what is all the fuss about? Or is it just another bash Microsoft on the head time. People seem to forget that before windows came along computing was not as much fun (unless you were using Amiga Workbench) or is it that whatever they bring out some people will not like it. I can see some folk going to W7 and praising all the things that they turned their noses at up in Vista.
Vista's a pain in the backside for the majority of people. The idea is right, but so much about it is wrong. And this isn't just my opinion - Vista has officially flopped. Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista how it should have been.
I agree, Vista has a lot going for it but it's implementation is abysmal. Many of the problems go unnoticed but as soon as you hit it with a heavy workload it's virtually unusable. I do a lot of Video capture and editing. Switching between applications, something I do many times a day, causes a delay of up to 90 seconds while the screen redraws itself. I probably lose around an hour's worth of productivity a day because of this.
This never happened under XP which I ran on a for less specified PC and that's just one out of perhaps ten or twenty major faults I could pick. Fix the faults, which Windows 7 seems to have done, and you'll have a reasonable OS.
So what we are really saying is that Windows 7 is a service pack for Vista, but if Microsoft had called it that we would not have installed it as it would still have been Vista (and Microsoft could not have sold it to you therefore make money). >:D I use Vista in a business setting on two computers and the only problems I have had were caused by other software and once they were updated the problems went away. :fingers:
Why pay when Linux is free ;) What can Windows 7 aka. a patched Vista do that Linux cannot ? :evil:
Run rFactor ;D
Picky. ;D
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=10930&iTestingId=28023 :whistle:
What was not tested
Multiplayer
Quote from: uxbod on Feb 13, 2009, 08:09:33
Why pay when Linux is free ;) What can Windows 7 aka. a patched Vista do that Linux cannot ? :evil:
Because Linux is even more of a pain than Vista! :P :out: