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.

Office Applications and Utilities On Microsoft Windows 7 Beta
Microsoft Office 2007 - No issues found
Adobe CS3 Master Collection (Tested Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks) - No issues found
uTorrent - No issues found
Thunderbird - No issues found
Winzip - No issues found
Mozy Backup - No issues found
Open Office 3.0 - No issues found
Winamp - No issues found
Power ISO - No issues found
Adsense Log - Cannot keep track of the current time in the status popup box, but works normally.
AVG 8 For Windows 7 - No issues found
Firefox (all versions) - No issues found
Microsoft Songsmith - No issues found
Abyss Web Server - No issues found
Xampp Web Server - No issues found
Sony Vegas Studio 9 Pro Platinum - No issues found
Adobe CS4 - Macrovision (we call it malwarevision) preventing correct install yet again
Adobe CS4 - Torrent Hacked Version -(Tested Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks) No issues found
Filezilla - No issues found
TightVNC - viewer works only in Java mode
UltraVNC - viewer works only in java mode
PC Anywhere v12 - installs, but cannot start
Slysoft Virtual DVD - does not work
Deamon Tools Virtual DVD - does not work
Games on Microsoft Windows 7 Beta
Spore - No issues found
Dead Space - No issues found
Far Cry 2 - No issues found
Fallout 3 - No issues found
Crysis - rocks - No issues found
Crysis - warhead - No issues found
Saints Row 2 - No issues found
Heroes of might and magic - No issues found
Brothers in arms - No issues found
Lord of the rings conquest - No issues found
Mirrors Edge - No issues found
Neverwinter - No issues found
Left 4 Dead - No issues found
Mass Effect - No issues found
Burnout Paradise - No issues found
Medieval 2 Total War - No issues found
Xplane all versions - No issues found
Womb Raider underworld - No issues found
Vampires edge - No issues found
The Witcher - No issues found
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 - No issues found

Tips for getting business applications and games to run on Microsoft Windows 7 Beta

1) Turn off the aero interface
2) Only if you have a problem, tell Windows 7 to emulate Vista
3) Install and run as administrator

This solved 70% of all install and run problems for Microsoft Windows 7 Beta

Tips for getting the best performace from games

Get the WDDM Pre-release driver for NVidia from Microsoft Windows 7 Beta Update - Your frame rate will go up and your aero interface performance will also.

So that’s our list of what works and doesn’t work so far.  I am a bit surprised at how well all the game software works on Windows 7.  I am a bit disapointed at Adobe learning nothing from all the problems their customers have had installation and uninstalling the software.  To keep something as easily bypassed as Macrovision shows Adobe understands nothing about their users and nothing about copy protection.  The only things that did not work are the drive emulators which install a driver.

Please do us a favor!  If you find something on the working side or the non-working side in your own testing, please let us know in the comments and we’ll update the list.

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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.

Adobe CS4 for seems to conflict with the Windows 7 Aero theme and so I eventually grew tired of the new visual style of CS4 and uninstalled it.

I downloaded the Adobe CS3 trial versions and they installed and work perfectly on Windows 7 Beta. I like the stability and performance of the CS3 versions better anyway and think that Adobe still has more than a few problems to resolve in the Adobe CS4 lineup.

Adobe has always been famous for the quality and technical genius of it’s software and equally famous for the very low quality of its problematic installation and so-called protection software.

Continuing relationship with Macrovision is causing the same pain and same problems as with every previous release of their software. It appears that they have learned nothing from the pain experienced by their user base over the last three years.  The Adobe support forum is filled with complaints related to this and yet Adobe corporate management heads are apparently filled with nothing at all.

It’s sad I cannot write a great review about great software running well on the best release of Windows we’ve ever had, but I can’t and it’s not because Adobe doesn’t create great software.  It’s because they protect is using outmoded technology that hackers easily avoid and that same software causes very real operational problems to their equally real paying customers.  Does Adobe think that hackers will begin paying for the software if it’s protected?  Does Adobe really think that it’s corporate users should put up with problems and slow performance?  My advice to Adobe is to follow the money and serve your customers.  Get rid of the useless copy protection and move on with your business relationships with your real customers who will be happy to discover that by removing the crap you’ve added to protect your software, that it runs like a dream.

In the end I’m happy to use CS3. It is a version that I know and trust. It works perfectly under Windows 7 in all interface modes. It seems to benefit from the speed of Windows 7 and becomes even more useful than under Windows Vista previously.

Conclusion: if you are testing Windows 7 beta I highly advise that you use the CS3 version. The first reason is that it’s very stable and fast.  The second reason is that CS4 seems to have a lot of interface releated problems that are magnified by the Windows 7 Aero theme.

PS: Adobe Management (if you are even sentient) Please wake up! Macrovision problems plaque your real customers NOT hackers.  Nobody has ever bought a single copy of your software because of Macrovision protection.  Many corporate customers have had problems because of it.  Wake up, drink some coffee, take some geritol and read your customer support forums.  You’ll get it.  If you dont, then write me and I’ll help.

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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.

Given the much needed boost to revenue and return to operating system credibility that Windows 7 should give to Microsoft, I’d expect that this thing is riding on fully greased rails towards the fastest release possible.  We’re guessing a release to manufacturing of July.  (gee… that’s exactly when the 7000 series beta expires… hmm..)

The Breakdown confirmed by Microsoft is as follows:

Windows 7 Starter

* Available worldwide to OEMs on new PCs
* Missing Aero UI tweaks
* Limited to 3 simultaneous applications

Windows 7 Home Basic (Vista equivalent: $200)

* Only available in emerging markets
* Missing Aero UI tweaks

Windows 7 Home Premium (Vista equivalent: $260)

* Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail
* Includes Aero UI tweaks
* Features multi-touch capabilities
* Adds “premium” games
* Adds media capabilities (Media Center, DVD playback, DVD creation, etc.)
* Can create home network groups

Windows 7 Professional (Vista equivalent: $300)

* Available worldwide, to OEMs and in retail
* Includes all features of Premium
* Adds enhanced networking capabilities (Remote Desktop host, domain support, offline folders, etc.)
* Adds Mobility Center
* Adds Presentation Mode

Windows 7 Enterprise

* Available only in volume licenses
* Includes all features of Professional
* Adds Branch Cache
* Adds Direct Access
* Adds BitLocker

Windows 7 Ultimate (Vista equivalent: $320)

* Limited OEM and retail availability
* Includes all features of Enterprise

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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 -

ASUS P5B motherboard needed a BIOS update.  You can update it easily by going to the ASUS website and downloading the ASUS BIOS UPDATE utility.  It’s safe and easy.

The second thing I did was to re-install the updated beta drivers for SoundMAX hardware.  You can also download the SoundMAX drivers from the ASUS website.

The windows audio drivers for SoundMAX that ship with Windows 7 Beta 1 have some serious problems.

There are a lot of drivers out there and a lot of sites trying to offer them.  I advise going straight to the source.  It’s free, easy and most importantly…safe.

This will resolve both the front panel microphone AC97 mode problems and the intermittent SoundMAX driver problem with Windows 7 Beta 1

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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?

3) It’s clueless about my zen media player

4) It doesn’t like to stream online media properly.

In summary Windows Media Player 12 on Windows 7 Beta 1 is something to avoid unless you like to have all your music played for you like a cheap radio.

I’ve gone to the FREE and now very nicely updated Winamp and I am so happy with it I probably won’t look at Media Player for a long time.  If you tried it, you might feel the same and for FREE?  Why not try it out.  It’s cool.

If you want your sound to be even better, see my previous posts on the Sonic Focus and Andrea Electronics drivers from ASUS.  They work fine on Windows Vista SP2 Beta and Windows 7 Beta.

Another great plugin marketed for Winamp, but available to all players because of it’s unique design is called “Breakaway”.  If you cannot get Sonic Focus, then get Breakaway since it’s almost the same.  A quick Google search will get you the updated version.  It’s not free, but it’s cheap and worth it.

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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.

For this reason I chose to do a ‘Clean” or “Fresh” install and not attempt an upgrade.  If you’ll remember the so called upgrade process from Windows XP to Windows Vista, well.. let’s just say it didn’t work either.

The startup involves staring at a pulsating Microsoft Windows Beta 7 logo.  It’s quite hypnotic and I began to think warm thoughts about Microsoft and Bill Gates until it started to run on to about 5 minutes of useless pulsating with no clue to the user as to what was going on.  No progress bar, no meter, nothing.

After the initial start of Windows 7 Beta 1 installation, the screen changes to a low resolution wallpaper that looks like you are underwater.  On the bottom right you see the release series of 7000.

At this point it will appear to have crashed as it’s doing nothing and giving the user no progress bar again.  It took 11 minutes on my system at this point.  It looked locked up / crashed, but I just waited and it finally finished.

Just like Windows Vista before it, the installation screens look basically the same under Windows 7 Beta 1.

The first screen after the first of many long lonely waits, is the normal select your language and start install screen.

Again, a long wait, no progress bar and pulsating things to stare at.   My computer looks dead and appears to be doing nothing, but I keep the faith and just wait.  This time I wait about 10 minutes.

Now, finally you’ll see the EULA (End User License Agreement) which you’ll have to accept to go further of course.  It makes me wonder if they put something in there like “Microsoft can at it’s sole discretion borrow your care” if we’d all blindly accept it.  My guess.. yes.

Now you’ll see the normal install screen that we all know and love from the Microsoft Windows Vista installation process that features some progress information in for form of a list of tasks to be performed:

• Copying
• Expanding
• Installing Features
• Installing Updates
• Completing Installation
• Enriching Bill Gates

On this screen we do actually get some great feedback on whether the installation is progressing and to what extent.

The speed of installation seems about like Windows Vista.

I selected at the very beginning *not* to download updates, but at this point it downloads and installs them anyway.

Your computer will restart automatically at the end of this process, so don’t worry if you went for coffee (suggested 30 minutes) and found your computer powered off or re-booted.

At this point I’m into the install about 35 minutes.  We’re far from done.

My restart leads me to another long wait staring at a pulsating object telling me nothing, but doing a great job of making me worry that the installation has crashed. It hasn’t.

We’re at a new screen where it says:

• Updating Registry Settings
• Starting Services

Next another underwater scene where it says “Completing Installation”.

At this point something really odd happens as on my dual monitor system, the default monitor under Windows 7 Beta 1 shifts from my Primary (under Windows Vista) monitor to a smaller monitor I keep on the left side.  It appears that Windows 7 Beta 1 Monitor Preference is opposite to Microsoft Windows Vista.

The “Completing Installation” has now officially taken forever.  I know because I’ve been using a stopwatch to time it and it’s been forever already… twice.  If your system is taking a long time at this point, don’t panic. Time for more coffee.

Another reboot follows all this where we get “Starting Windows”.  At this point I think I will finally see the Windows 7 Beta 1 Aero interface, but no!

We get to wait for “Checking Performance”.  This takes another 5 minutes.

Next is the old familiar username screen from Microsoft Windows Vista.

Next is “Enter Your Product Key” and “Do you want to activate automatically?”.

Put it in there and click the little box for auto activation.

Finally you’ll see the Microsoft Windows 7 Beta 1 Aero Interface and the desktop will be yours to rule.

In my next articles I’ll tell you what I found out about all the applications and drivers that need to be installed to take a raw fresh install of Windows 7 Beta to a functioning dekstop.  In fact it’s the desktop I am writing this article on right now.

Don’t worry boys and girls! This story has a happy ending.  All is well in the end, but there’s some problems that you’ll need to resolve on your jouney and I’ll walk you through it in my next 5 or 6 articles.

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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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