Windows 7 Beta - One Month In, What Do We Know Now?

It’s been about a month since we loaded version Microsoft Windows 7 Beta version 7000 (official Microsoft Windows 7 Beta) on our test computers here at the office.

I thought it might help people if I shared a list of what seems to work, what has problems and what we did to get things going.  Here is our list and our install notes.

At the end of the article we give our top tips for Microsoft Windows 7 Beta Compatibility for your applications and games.

If you have any additions, things you’d like us to test or problems, please use the comments and we’ll get you an answer on every single item. Read the full story

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Having just installed Windows 7 Beta ,  I wanted to install my favorite applications that included Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I noticed that they have a new version CS4 and downloaded the trial to test them out.

Unfortunately none of the individual trial software packages would install. I tried Dreamweaver CS4 and Fireworks CS4 and they both fail about halfway through the installation.

I really wanted to try it the Adobe CS4 for versions so I downloaded them from a torrent site.  Stripped of their Adobe installation software they ran fine.  Attention Adobe: Get an instant upgrade of 20% or better in your software’s over all performance by outsourcing your install script to torrent freaks.  Oh yeah and the bonus is that your software will install on anything that can spin a fan.

Read the full story

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Attention Microsoft: We Don’t need 6 versions of your product.  We need at most two versions that work very well.

We got 6 versions of Vista and that was a nightmare.  I really just want one version of Windows 7 and that should be the best version.  After all, you don’t want people to experience less than the best when running Microsoft Windows right?  I mean, you really want people to be loyal, love it and potentially respect it the morning after they get their copy from the torrents. Read the full story

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Microsoft confirmed that there will be no updates to Windows 7 Beta until final release accoring to Steven Sinofsky, Windows Dev Chief, at Microsoft.

Sinofsky emphasized in his new post that Microsoft is not sharing any new ship date targets for Windows 7.  Microsoft will release a private beta to developers and hardware manufacturers a minimum of 10 minutes before they ship it to the general public.   The RC will be”Windows 7 as we intend to ship it,” Sinofsky blogged. More about the RC from his post:

“We will continue to listen to feedback and telemetry with the focus on addressing only the most critical issues that arise. We will be very clear in communicating any changes that have a visible impact on the product. This release allows the whole ecosystem to reach a known state together and make sure that we are all ready together for the Release to Manufacturing. Once we get to RC, the whole ecosystem is in “dress rehearsal” mode for the next steps.”

Microsoft refuses to comment on the release date saying that it will be before 2010.  Most insiders predict a fast track release and the internal pressure is mounting to get the Windows Vista that we all thought we bought out the door as quickly as possible.

The question is:  Will Microsoft’s strategy for fixing the ‘world worst software release’, Vista, be to rush Windows 7 out the door to soon also?

So far I have to say that the answer is, Windows 7 is ready right now.  There is not one thing I do in business or for my entertainment that is not working under Windows 7 Beta right now.  For me, it’s a complete environment and production ready.  Is it perfect?  No.  I’m no Microsoft fan boy.

My guess for a reasonable release date would be August/September.

The currently released beta expires in July right?  So with no further update planned, how big a gap would you leave if you were Microsoft?  I’m thinking that a release in the July time frame would be the final RC and that would take care of the beta expiration problems.

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After you install Windows 7 Beta 1, you may start to have some problems with your audio especially if you are on SoundMAX hardware.

I got it working after taking care of two minor problems - Read the full story

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Sorry, did I say “crap”. Yeah well I needed a stronger word! Even “crap” isn’t enough to express my angst.  There are times when the word “disappointed” just doesn’t say everything you feel.

1) It sounds like low fi AM radio quality sound

2) There is NO EQUALIZER!  What?

Read the full story

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These are my notes as I installed Windows 7 on an older computer with an ASUS P5B motherboard and a Pentium D chip with 2gb Ram.

Consider it a travelogue or your guide to installing Windows 7.  It’s what I experienced, what you should expect and in follow on articles, solutions to problems that came up.

I booted from the shiny new Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD and tried to install. Due to problems with the current Windows Vista installation, the upgrade option repeatedly failed.   No specific clues or reasons were given. Read the full story

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I’ve got two computers here running Windows 7 Beta.  They are very different computers in that one is almost 5 years old and one is absolutely cutting edge with all the latest graphics cards, etc.  Both run Windows 7 Beta very well and without any errors.

The new Windows 7 Aero theme is pretty and a bit more organized and intuitive than Windows Vista Aero.  Enabling the mouse gestures makes Windows 7 much nicer.  An example mouse gesture that I use is to wiggle the mouse back and forth like you are scratching something off a list.  This instantly clears the desktop by hiding all the open windows.

The new interface also allows you to click the thumbnails of the programs that are running.  It’s a bit Apple OSX like, except not so animated and annoying in my humble opinion.

I am still concerned about compatibility issues, but even the few games I’ve run have been no problem for Window 7.

Given that a Windows 7 beta will be readily downloadable in the near future and given that the apparent quality of the release exceeds that of Vista SP2 Beta, I have to ask who will bother to upgrade to Vista SP2?

In addition to frame rate increases in games, the internet connection scores nearly 10% higher throuput.  On our 1GB connections, the difference is even more noticeable.

Even if you do not have machine to test drive Microsoft  Windows 7 on, you can use Vmware’s free desktop virtualization software to set up and start exploring.  It’s coming fairly soon.  It’s going to be good and if you work in a corporate IT department, you’ll have to support it.

To set up Windows 7 on Vmware, just tell vmware that you will be using Vista.  This works well because one of the excplicit goals of Windows 7 is driver and hardware compatibility with Vista.

Installation is a breeze.  It basically looks just like the Windows Vista installer with upgraded graphics.

Like all new Windows releases, Microsoft has tried to appeal to users on the current platform.  The result is that there is a lot going on under the hood that has changed but that you won’t see until you’re in a support situation and relealize that some of your tried and true debugging rituals no longer work.

Conclusion:

I think it’s wise to start preparing to support this operating system now, especially if you’ve been holding off corporate users waiting for a better version of Vista. By the time Windows Vista SP2 Beta is stable and out the door, you’ll be on the heels of Microsoft’s Windows 7 release date.  At the least you should install a virtual machine on Vmware for familiarization

If you have applications that need to be tested on Windows 7, the time to start that is right now.  Developers should have their beta copy very shortly

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