Wndows 7 (Beta) First impressions

Les McLean said:
Reading the Microsoft Windows 7 Blog, as a response to the screw-up they made on release i.e. they didn't foresee the huge demand for download (it can be argued they should have), so had to delay the product release to get more servers on-line.

This is their response:

Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit
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Of course there was going to be a large volume of downloads - how else would malicious programmers probe the new release for vulnerabilities?

Although others have mentioned the fact that a beta is not a guaranteed product, I think it's worth emphasising that there will be some GAPING SECURITY HOLES in this release.

Just a reminder :)
 
Dangermouse1964 said:
At last Im back lol...well after a full day trying to restore my PC and get back to my original vista settings which MS7 would not allow me to do even though I created a back up and thought that I had this on a seperate partition I eventually had to format and reinstall vista and all my other software and 7 hrs later I am nearly half way.

As for WIN7 I personally dont think its quite ready for public testing yet it should still be in its Alpha stage as everything I tried to do was simply coming up with the DeBug box and wanting to debug everything so I sent this report to MS but in whole I think once the little niggly stuff is ironed out it will be better than Vista.

I remember the beta stage of Longhorn and geez that was bad so really this is a much better beta but as I say should still be an Alpha for a few more months
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Strange,

Microsoft are on the record as saying this release is near final. Not read any other reports of problems either. Can you think of there may have been a problem? Sounds like your system and Windows 7 did not get on one bit...

Gary.
 
Mattfeliks said:
Of course there was going to be a large volume of downloads - how else would malicious programmers probe the new release for vulnerabilities?

Although others have mentioned the fact that a beta is not a guaranteed product, I think it's worth emphasising that there will be some GAPING SECURITY HOLES in this release.

Just a reminder :)
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*Near Final* :D

There are going to be few changes before this launches.

Gary.
 
gman said:
Anyway, forgive me for not being infallible but better that in my opinion that an arrogant arse with a bad attitude.
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You are forgiven. ;)

I posted in haste, not realising it was my first post on this forum, I though I was in another! Probably not the best start.

Anyhoo, despite it making me look like an 'arrogant arse' I'll stand by my point. Beta OSs are flaky at best and shouldn't be installed for replacing a production OS. I know a lot of people can't resist something new, but most of the forums I frequent are already full of people whinging and moaning about what does and doesn't work with W7 and spouting the usual anti-MS cobblers. It's a BETA and as such is purely for testing and the number of individuals who have replaced their production OS with it is considerable, which (IMO of course) is lunacy.
As an amateur tog, I'll happily take advice on photography from others on this forum. As an IT professional who makes a living doing this kind of work, my take is that if you don't know what an ISO file is that would suggest that perhaps testing a pre-production OS isn't likely to proceed or end well for you.

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but that's my opinion!
 
Coolhand said:
You are forgiven. ;)

I posted in haste, not realising it was my first post on this forum, I though I was in another! Probably not the best start.

Anyhoo, despite it making me look like an 'arrogant arse' I'll stand by my point. Beta OSs are flaky at best and shouldn't be installed for replacing a production OS. I know a lot of people can't resist something new, but most of the forums I frequent are already full of people whinging and moaning about what does and doesn't work with W7 and spouting the usual anti-MS cobblers. It's a BETA and as such is purely for testing and the number of individuals who have replaced their production OS with it is considerable, which (IMO of course) is lunacy.
As an amateur tog, I'll happily take advice on photography from others on this forum. As an IT professional who makes a living doing this kind of work, my take is that if you don't know what an ISO file is that would suggest that perhaps testing a pre-production OS isn't likely to proceed or end well for you.

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but that's my opinion!
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I don't think your opening post was that bad :D But, he knows what an ISO file is I think. I am also in IT and I Can understand why people like to tinker. I got to where I am as a result of breaking my mums brand new "Pentium 150" whilst she was out at work. I had only just logged on for the first or second time, I wanted to play Quake or Quake 2. Anyway, before long, Windows 95 would not load. £2k and I had broken it. Before long, I had managed to use the Packard Bell restore disk, and sort it all out. This from not really having a clue. From that day forward, I tinkered.

I guess what I am saying is, this is a side to PC's that people enjoy, pro or not. If people want to see the new OS before its ready *BTW, its near final*, then why not. They know they can bugger their systems, but thats all part of the fun IMO :)

Gary.
 
Coolhand said:
Beta OSs are flaky at best
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To be honest, if anyone's home PC is that mission-critical, they shouldn't be using Windows in the first place.

That said, this is a high standard beta and I haven't noticed any missing functionality.
 
It seemed to run smooth and looked good to so apart from the annoying debug popup I liked it and will buy it once the niggles are ironed out
 
Coolhand said:
You are forgiven. ;)

I posted in haste, not realising it was my first post on this forum, I though I was in another! Probably not the best start.

Anyhoo, despite it making me look like an 'arrogant arse' I'll stand by my point. Beta OSs are flaky at best and shouldn't be installed for replacing a production OS. I know a lot of people can't resist something new, but most of the forums I frequent are already full of people whinging and moaning about what does and doesn't work with W7 and spouting the usual anti-MS cobblers. It's a BETA and as such is purely for testing and the number of individuals who have replaced their production OS with it is considerable, which (IMO of course) is lunacy.
As an amateur tog, I'll happily take advice on photography from others on this forum. As an IT professional who makes a living doing this kind of work, my take is that if you don't know what an ISO file is that would suggest that perhaps testing a pre-production OS isn't likely to proceed or end well for you.

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but that's my opinion!
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I thought your opening post was a cracker, straight to the point, maybe slightly lacking in amiability but oh so very true!

Welcome to the site.
 
As far as I'm aware Windows 7 isn't due to release until January 2010 at the earliest. Knowing how Microsoft OS dates slip I'd be surprised if it didn't end up being Autumn 2010!

If I decide to go for pc, as opposed to mac, I'll wait until new pcs are launched with it loaded.
 
I've heard 64 bit is supported less in some programs and is also a bit more unstable with some programs compared to 32 bit.

Don't quote me on that, or shoot the messenger! :p (people with 64 bit) but thats just what I've heard.
 
EdinburghGary said:
*Near Final* :D

There are going to be few changes before this launches.

Gary.
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Argh, I've just burned it on to DVD and I'm not sure whether I should bother installing it on a separate partition. Don't want it to mess up my bootloader.

Then again, I can see myself fiddling with this plenty tonight.

Why do I bother? :wacky:
 
it's an awesome product already, totally solid and performance is streets ahead of Vista. I've installed it on the laptops in my household and am considering running 2k8R2 Hyper-V beta on my server as well as the base OS. Can't complain for free that's for sure.
 
Got it downloaded but havent installed it as yet.

Looking forward to seeing it.:)
 
Go for it (y) Some of it works a bit different (like the task bar) - bear in mind a lot of stuff is gearing up for touch interface and it makes a lot more sense!
 
I have put it on my laptop and been using it for a few weeks and am loving it.
I like the fact that the sidebar has gone and instead gadgets can be placed anywhere. i`ll be putting it on my main rig when its available. using dual monitors and the fact that I use several programs at once it will make the positioning of important gadgets better :D
 
I installed it on my main rig after Vista went head over heels when I was messing with OSX86. :(

It's pretty damn cool. It does have it's faults though, I thought I'd give the 64 bit version a try but its not without its flaws. Some drivers don't work, others don't exist. Google Chrome has temper tantrums sometimes because of the 64 bit OS, but all to be expected with a Beta system I suppose.

It really does have advantages over Vista though, those are apparent (y)
 
so far I like it, but seeing your screen shots I need to upgrade to a more recent beta, mine has a vista UI (been running it for a few weeks ***)
 
I installed it on my one and only computer a few weeks ago.

It is pretty much the finished article as far as i can tell. I never had any driver problems and all software installed as if i was installing it on XP.
Fair enough, it uses more resources than XP but then again, it uses no where near as much as Vista does.


All in all i reckon it is a fine OS. I will be switching straight from XP to Win7 once it goes live.
 
Is it that much different to be packaged as a new OS rather than an upgrade to Vista as from what i understand it's not that different apart from running better. They have seemed to move things arround like the security all being under one roof but there seems nothing substantial to be a new version of Windows. From the screenshots i must say it looks naff. Vista looks good but i don't like the look of 7 much at all. As long as the thing works properly then thats all that matters i guess.
 
AndyWest said:
Is it that much different to be packaged as a new OS rather than an upgrade to Vista as from what i understand it's not that different apart from running better. They have seemed to move things arround like the security all being under one roof but there seems nothing substantial to be a new version of Windows. From the screenshots i must say it looks naff. Vista looks good but i don't like the look of 7 much at all. As long as the thing works properly then thats all that matters i guess.
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Really liking it, much less clunky than Vista, faster and it seems to be much more organised. The new task bar is smarter too, and Windows Sidebar has been killed. Gadgets can be placed on the desktop instead.

SO far, it feels a lot better than Vista and I would say for the time being, a worthwhile contender for XP.

It's a mute point for me. When I go home, I will be installing OSX over it. Apple has me. Converted, big time.

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
It's a mute point for me. When I go home, I will be installing OSX over it. Apple has me. Converted, big time.

Gary.
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I'm getting my MAC this week and am glad that W7 is not as amazing as i thought it would be. As an upgrade from XP it sounds like it would be well worth the upgrade at the usual cost but i would be pretty annoyed if i had to pay the full amount if upgrading from Vista even for the upgrade disc price.

I guess if it's faster and runs better than Vista then it may be worth the cost.
 
Has anyone done any testing with legacy applications.

I have a piece of software I developed a few years ago with VB5 that needed a re-compile in VB6 to run under Vista. I'm a bit worried whether it'll work in W7.

Any info gratefully received.

Cheers

Russ
 
I was running the original doom on mine the other day, but it was recompiled source code so I don't really know, to date I havent had anything fail to install/work though
however a friend couldn't use the 64bit version because it didn't support his second network card
 
Guys,

Just found a very tidy feature on Windows 7. See here:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/04/windows-7s-pc-safeguard-sandboxes-user-accounts/

DOes what the other program I mentioned (Deep Freeze) does. For free. Create an admin account and password protect it. Then create a standard account, turn on "PC Safeguard" and lock the C drive. That standard user will not be able to make any permanent changes to the PC. All files and settings / history, are wiped after use. Exellent.

Gary.
 
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