Windows 7 Release Candidate coming in May

OOPS! Microsoft spills it all over again. Now another premature download page for the Windows 7 RC just like what happened for Windows 7 Beta and it confirms that Microsoft are going to release the RC on May rather than April as previously rumored. Seems like not everything is going pretty quiet for Microsoft during the whole development of Windows 7. With a series of leaks even before and after the Beta was released and still continuing, Microsoft should look to take a cue from Apple on keeping things a big secret, even within their own departments. So, the page comes up and people see it. Where is it? See the screenshot below. The page appeared on TechNet.

 

Screenshot of the future Windows 7 RC download page

Well, I can see Microsoft banging their heads against their tables. After all, they had worked very hard to keep this is a complete rumor. All busted. Never mind. Good for us that we know when it's coming.

Meanwhile, here's what you need to know from the above image regarding the RC-

This is pre-release software, so please read the following to get an idea of the risks and key things you need to know before you try the RC.

• You don't need to rush to get Windows 7 RC. The RC release will be available at least through June 2009 and we're not limiting the number of product keys, so you have plenty of time.
• Watch the calendar. Windows 7 RC will expire on June 1, 2010. So if you install the RC release you'll either need to upgrade to the final version of Windows 7 before that date, or install a prior version of Windows. (For more about installing Windows, see installation instructions.
• Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don’t test Windows 7 RC on your primary home or business PC.
• Technical details/updates: before installing the RC please read the Release Notes, and Things to Know for important information about the release.
• Keep up with the news. You can keep up with general technical information and news by following the Springboard Series blog or Windows team blog. Want technical guidance, tips, and tools? Visit the Springboard Series on TechNet. And, you can get non-technical news, tips, and offers on the Springboard Series on TechNet
• Keep your PC updated: Be sure turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the RC.
• Microsoft Partners: Learn more about Windows 7 on the Microsoft Partner Portal. 

Here's what you need to have:

• Internet access (to download Windows 7 RC and get updates)
• A PC with these minimum recommended specifications:
• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor or higher
• 1 GB of system memory or more
• 16 GB of available disk space
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
• DVD-R/W Drive 

This part is the same as the Beta. The rest is what you should get. Download links and general information. Surely, interesting stuff from Microsoft to let us know. The TechNet page now takes you to the beta site again. So, users eagerly awaiting for the next release of Windows 7 will have to wait till May while testers might get a new build next month.

Windows 7 RC download page goes up early
Discuss on what you expect next in Windows 7 RC

The Windows 7 Review

The new Windows 7 Beta is a total image makeover from Microsoft after their disastrous Vista. Even though it is Beta, it seems more or less pretty stable without much bugs and people can even think of using it as their everyday OS (well that is surely not recommended). Well my system specifications are pretty unimpressive and Vista had clearly put my system down to it's knees but 7 seems to be pretty impressive at the performance with system specs that read-

Intel Pentium 4 1.73 GHz
Intel 915GM Graphics Chipset (XPDM)
512 MB RAM (Although Microsoft recommended 1 GB minimum RAM)
80 GD HDD (20GB dedicated for Windows 7)

Now, let's get into the inards of the OS. The startup is cool with four animated flashing lights making up the Windows logo and progress bar has been removed. Logs in pretty quickly and starts up preparing the desktop in a jiffy. Let's look at all the standout features of the New Windows 7.

Important Features

Superbar
The first thing you will notice on the desktop is the change of the taskbar. Not only by looks, but also by functionality. Larger icons with no text take up less space and look beautiful. The Vista Start Orb is now replaced with a glowing new Orb. The rest of the start menu is the same as Vista but with faster and efficient searches. Looks like 7 has been made to be an intelligent OS that understands and processes the User's demands fast.

Jump Lists
Jump Lists is an exciting new feature and does not remain the same boring right-click any more. It is way more better. Right clicking each active application or folder presents you with the related options. For example, for right click on Windows Media Player running in the backgorund, you get different playing options. Right clicking on an open folder gives you a list of frequently used files and folders making navigation a whole lot more easier.

Aero Peek
Unluckily due to my very modest hardware of my Laptop, I was not able to experiment this particular feature but from what I read on the Internet was that this is another feature pretty impressive and much more functional than the WinFlip in Vista which most people never ever used. You can literally peak through open windows to see the window below or the desktop below. Clearly a very nice and useful concept.

Less Obtrusive UAC
Well this had to be a feature becuase of the problems UAC had created with Vista. Now the UAC is pretty much less obstrusive and you can also configure it in 4 levels to control how much it disturbs or nags you.

Search different sites right from Explorer
Yes and that's a very very new and cool feature. Just add a .osdx file of that respective site and then all you need to do is select the site in Windows Explorer and start searching through the Search Bar. New and innovative feature. No need to open any browsers. You can try it by seeing the template available in the site below-

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/742-windows-7-search-federation-providers.html

Seems faster than Vista and XP
Yes, I said it, XP too. Although not in all places, but 7 does manage enough punch to beat Vista hands down and XP with a fierce competition. Even on my system, Windows 7 works very snappily and is a whole lot of fun to use. Loads applications pretty fast and the startup times are simply mind boggling. It just takes around 15 seconds for everything to set up and get up and running. Impressive! It seems pretty stable too. Even though it's a Beta, my Laptop hasn't hanged even a single time nor it has seen a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). This is good work from Microsoft as Beta versions are known to be quite unstable but this one manages to cling on to the exception list. The final version seems to be interesting as the final version is generally better than Beta and a lot changes during that transition.

Looks pretty good till now without breaking a sweat. Windows 7 is here to salvage something of what Windows Vista made of mess off. Not only features and designs but a whole lot of performance improvements. Windows 7 seems quite ready for Netbooks. Interesting how Microsoft redesigned the kernel to use lesser memory and resources and then built the whole Vista code on it with new things too. Haven't got a chance to review the Touch features of 7 but will surely cover it up sometime later with a review. Ubuntu, the Linux OS which had been hailed as the Windows killer is now facing the heat from Windows 7, the Linux killer. It will be a good competition in the days to come and hoping Microsoft would not disappoint us at all. Since we have good things so much, why not talk about the bad part. So here it goes for the small group of XP users.

Some Reasons why a group of XP users won't like 7

• Since 7 is based on the same driver model as Vista, it is deemed to suffer from driver incompatibilities although users upgrading from Vista will have no issues with this problem.
• Vista was known to be bloated because it had Aero and since 7 hasn't changed much there, XP users with low system specs are in for a huge disappointment but the Basic theme works fine on low end PCs.
• Since XP users with low system specs won't get the benefit of all the features and top-notch performance, they would rather stay put with XP instead of upgrading.
• Upgrade from Vista to 7 is allowed but not from XP to 7 which is in my view a huge omission. That means an XP user wanting Windows 7 will either have to be ready to get the Hard Drive wiped clean or perform a Dual-boot which an average guy with little computer knowledge is not expected to know.

Well here's my Windows 7 review. Many points are important for Microsoft to consider while getting ready to prepare the final package. Windows 7 is surely a step forward in reviving the image of Microsoft among Corporates and Tech critics. But a lot still needs to be done. Whatever they have come up with till now is pretty good and hope that this just gets better. Good Luck to Microsoft for coming up with a neat final package. Till then, I will enjoy using the Beta and take loads of opportunities to toy around with it.

Windows 7 Beta is now officially available!

After months and months of pure speculation, Windows 7 is finally out and with a bang. It was originally slated for release on January 9th but due to the overwhelming response of the masses, Microsoft delayed it by one day to add more servers for a better download experience. It is finally out and if you want to lay your hands on it immediately, then head to the link below-

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

 A Windows 7 Desktop

For download instructions and other Windows 7 info, head to the official Windows 7 site to get everything you need to know. But do remember that the Beta will expire on August 1st, 2009 and is available only for the first 2.5 million downloaders. To get the keys for the 32 and 64-bit builds, head over to the link below-

   32-bit: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-32/enus/default.aspx

64-bit: https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/productkeys/win7-64/enus/default.aspx

The keys need to be used to activate the Beta build so that they can be used for the full Beta period.

This is a very much anticipated release from Windows and I will be publishing a short review of the OS right here in this blog so do stay tuned to the blog for the latest updates of Windows 7 and more info on it.

Installation is pretty simple, all you need to do is burn the ISO downloaded to a blank DVD using a DVD Burner software and then run the setup. Starting up Windows 7 is as easy as it gets and once you start up the setup, all you need to do is sit down in front of the computer with a cup of coffee.

Till the next post, Happy Experimenting Windows 7.

Windows 7 Beta leaked!

Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) has been leaked on to the internet. This was done yesterday and is being downloaded in huge quantities through torrent networks. The download available is a 32-bit ISO image and proposedly a Beta download. It has been leaked on major torrent networks now although initially, the download was available from a Chinese File Hosting server Namipan. The download was originally leaked on a Chinese forum PCBeta. To download the Beta, please go through the links available below-

Demonoid Link: Windows_7_Beta_1_7000_0_081212_1400_iso_o-Demonoid.com-o.torrent
Mininova Link: 7000 [mininova].torrent

There are approximately a 1000 seeders and 5000 peers for the Mininova torrent. Since registrations at Demonoid are closed right now, you should download it from Mininova right now. If you want to download through the Namipan file server, you need to download first NamiRobot from the links below-

http://202.111.173.105:8011/NamiRobotSetup.exe
http://218.93.248.125:8011/NamiRobotSetup.exe

Then go to the link

http://www.namipan.com/d/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso/3cde3c2bb03773c82ce8eb766c459fd9a91f6e4d00a0179c

and there click the blue text besides the ">" sign to download through NamiRobot.

File Properties

File: 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso
Size: 2618793984 bytes
MD5: f9dce6ebd0a63930b44d8ae802b63825
SHA1: 6071184282B2156FF61CDC5260545C078CCA31EE
CRC32: AABA5A48

Please verify all the above properties before downloading so that you make sure that you are downloading the original copy. The Beta will expire on July 1, 2009.

So enjoy your download and have fun experimenting with the new Windows 7!

Windows 7 Beta : Coming on January 13th?

 

After months and months of speculation, it seems that the wait is almost over. Microsoft may officially release the Windows 7 Beta at the next month's Microsoft Developer Network Conference (MDC) slated for January 13th, 2009. Also, attendees at next month's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) could get the first public look at Windows 7 which is scheduled for 8-11 January. Although there has been no official confirmation on this specific report, Microsoft wrote on a Web site for its MDCs that attendees of those conferences, some of which are scheduled for mid-January, can expect a Windows 7 beta DVD. Some reports have suggested that Windows 7 Beta has already been made available to specific testers through invitation from ZDNet. If that is true, we can expect it anytime soon. Microsoft has expressed a desire to launch Windows 7 by the early 2010 but some reports suggest that Microsoft may even release it by mid-2009 and that too after Vista has performed very poorly on the front line market with a lot of disappointment.

Whatever it is, we stand to benefit from it and this is surely an interesting thing and we might be in for something huge. Right now, one can have a sneak peek at the Windows 7 by downloading a pre-beta from different torrent sites ILLEGALLY but surely there's no stopping the party. Let us hope for the earliest possible dates!

For more details and the absolute latest updates on when Windows 7 Beta is coming to your PCs, keep a close tabs on the Official Windows 7 site. To go there, click here.