Author Topic: windows 7 beta available for free Jan 9 (!) (Read 108636 times)

urlwolf · « **on:** January 08, 2009, 10:31 AM »

Here is the announcement.
Will you try it?
I was toying with the idea of installing Server 2008. The fact that this beta will be installed by many people seems like it could improve the final product faster than the standard way of not releasing it free as a beta.

Darwin · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2009, 10:55 AM »

I've got Server 2008 on a spare harddrive and was swapping it with my Vista install. Since I moved from 32 bit to 64 bit Vista I haven't bothered, though... I am seriously tempted to replace Server 2008 with Win 7 beta and give it a whirl.

Actually, I await with considerable impatience, the arrival of a newer, faster harddrive (Seagate Momentus 7200.3 20GB notebook drive) so wil probably install Win 7 on my current workhorse drive and play...

nontroppo · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:09 PM »

20GB hard drive - sheesh, don't use it all at once

Darwin · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:18 PM »

320GB 7200 rpm Seagate 7200.3 drive...

Lashiec · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:24 PM »

The system requirements are a bit high, but I hope VirtualBox can cope with it. I'm not that eager to try it as to partition one of the hard drives, and install it there, just wanna play with it a bit.

Might I suggest Microsoft to run for the Guinness World Record of the most downloaded piece of software? I'm sure they could give Firefox 3 a beating, exactly the same beating their servers are going to receive

Darwin · « **Reply #5 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:42 PM »

Good point, Lashiec - don't why I didn't think of installing it into VirtualPC... I can then use my (soon to be extraneous) 250GB drive for more practical things, such as data backup!

40hz · « **Reply #6 on:** January 08, 2009, 01:17 PM »

Bring it on! "We are not afraid."

(Now we'll get to see just how good their Win2k8 server farms and clouds really are.

)

Hirudin · « **Reply #7 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:14 PM »

I'll be installing it on at least one computer. It's definitely going on my laptop and I'm considering putting it on my main computer too if I can.

I heard that they're only allowing 2.5 million downloads, can anyone confirm this?

f0dder · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:50 PM »

Bring it on! "We are not afraid."
(see attachment in previous post)
(Now we'll get to see just how good their Win2k8 server farms and clouds really are. )
-40hz (January 08, 2009, 01:17 PM)

Why do people keep on using Win9x style BSODs? I mean, no wonder people think Windows is unstable if Win9x is all they've tried.

40hz · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2009, 03:16 PM »

Why do people keep on using Win9x style BSODs? I mean, no wonder people think Windows is unstable if Win9x is all they've tried.
-f0dder (January 08, 2009, 02:50 PM)

Probably because there are so many screen captures of them. They're virtually an icon.

MrCrispy · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2009, 03:40 PM »

I got it off MSDN and am running it right now as the main OS on my laptop and in 2 VM's. Even with 512MB in VirtualBox its perfectly usable.

f0dder · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2009, 03:45 PM »

MrCrispy: which build does MSDN offer, and do you know if it's the same build that's going public-beta tomorrow?

Ehtyar · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:16 PM »

We're gonna try it today on a proper box to try out aero. I'll let you know how it goes.
At one stage we ran it in VirtualBox with 1024 megs of ram and it ran faster than the Vista host.

Ehtyar.

[edit]
It was questioned in the IRC channel (JOIN IT!!) how this was possible. So it doesn't look like I'm full of it, here is the explanation: http://en.wikipedia....ion#Hardware_support
[/edit]

f0dder · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:22 PM »

Ehtyar: so, does VirtualBox virtualize the GPU, including 3D capabilites? That sounds like a seriously massive undertaking... and that's (imho) the only way for graphics to be able to run faster than the host.

If you're talking about the rest of the system running faster than the host, that would be doable with normal virtualization, even without hardware support (by doing the clever tricks vmware used to do before the VMX instruction set).

Ehtyar · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:16 PM »

Ah f0d man, always the skeptic.

The graphics in a VM suck ofc (as you knew before posting that reply

). I meant just in general usability. IE in the VM noticeably outperformed IE in Vista, as did Firefox. This is also as a comparison to Vista, which certainly doesn't run faster than a host in a VM.

Ehtyar.

kartal · « **Reply #15 on:** January 08, 2009, 05:34 PM »

I use win7 on virtual box ubuntu host(Macbook pro). It is not bad. Both virtual machine and win7 seems to be doing fine as far as speed goes.

Lashiec · « **Reply #16 on:** January 08, 2009, 06:06 PM »

I heard that they're only allowing 2.5 million downloads, can anyone confirm this?
-Hirudin (January 08, 2009, 02:14 PM)

Confirmed. Since the page is getting hammered, I'll post the relevant part:

The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.

Fedorov · « **Reply #17 on:** January 08, 2009, 07:16 PM »

I'm interested in what Anti-Virus and Firewall products are known to work on it before installing

Ehtyar · « **Reply #18 on:** January 08, 2009, 08:18 PM »

MS need to embrace torrents for legitimate uses...fail.

Anyway, having installed Windows 7 on the desktop, IT IS FAST!!! Boot speed has been significantly improved also.

It looks a whole lot better than Vista (as everyone already knows), and the Firewall looks like it is going to be working a whole lot better than the XP/Vista f/w. Just something quick to tantilise the taste buds (I am at work ya know

).

Ehtyar.

40hz · « **Reply #19 on:** January 08, 2009, 11:32 PM »

FYI:

Non-MSDN and TechNet subscribers download available starting @ 12:00PM Pacific Time.

Hirudin · « **Reply #20 on:** January 09, 2009, 01:54 AM »

So, 7 minutes to go and the RSS feed doesn't really work. I wonder if there's any reason to think we'll be able to actually download the ISO tonight...

MrCrispy · « **Reply #21 on:** January 09, 2009, 02:25 AM »

MrCrispy: which build does MSDN offer, and do you know if it's the same build that's going public-beta tomorrow?
-f0dder (January 08, 2009, 03:45 PM)

Its the exact build that will be given to the public (x86 and x64). Build number is 7000.0.081212-1400

justice · « **Reply #22 on:** January 09, 2009, 05:59 AM »

Windows 7 site seems already slow with people checking for the ISO, so be smart and use the Coral Content Delivery Network (add nyud.net to the hostname - should even work for the iso):
http://www.microsoft...t/windows/windows-7/

Deozaan · « **Reply #23 on:** January 09, 2009, 07:53 AM »

Where's the link to the beta? I can't find it on the site.

Must be too early at Microsoft HQ. Five minutes to 6AM in Washington.

EDIT: Just saw this on the Windows 7 site:

Want to try the Beta? Come back the afternoon of January 9. And remember—this is just a preview. There's more to come.
-http://www.microsoft.com.nyud.net/windows/windows-7/

Deozaan · « **Reply #24 on:** January 09, 2009, 08:28 AM »

I came across this article: Reasons to skip Windows 7 Beta download.

As many of you know, I’m a hardcore Mac guy - but I wasn’t always this way. My experiences with Windows Vista sent me over the edge, prompting me to add the “hardcore” next to my “Mac guy” title. Still, I was excited to hear that Microsoft is releasing a beta download of Windows 7 on Friday - a move that might slow the switch-to-Mac momentum out there if the beta testers offer positive reviews. Just this morning, I thought about looking for my own Vista notebook. (My wife put it away after I was ready to literally toss it out of a second-floor window.)

But then I decided against the download and install. Given what I now know about the process, it already seems to be more trouble than its worth. Consider the following:

Read the rest of the article here.

My opinion on the article:

First of all I personally think the guy is a typical Mac fanboy. He clearly announces it in the first sentence of the article. And some of the reasons why he suggests skipping Windows 7 Beta seem superfluous; he mentions things like "be prepared to lose data" since all beta software has the potential to mess things up and he also quotes Ed Bott, who was speculating (i.e. guessing) when he said "good luck finding drivers for your hardware."

And the final thing that removes most credibility from the guy for me is this quote:

I know, I know. Many of you are probably thinking that I’m biased because I’ve gulped down Apple’s Kool-Aid and probably have already been labeled a Windows Hater. But I wasn’t always like this - Windows made me this way. That’s what made me switch - before switching was cool.

He says he switched to Macs before switching was cool, but in the second sentence of the article he says he became a hardcore Mac user because Vista drove him crazy. Is he serious? It was very cool to switch to Macs after Vista came out.