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After an unfruitful evening, I gave up, and continued retrying the 'final hurdle' this afternoon, eventually yielding a product key.

Why MSFT couldn't publish a single working product key (like they've done for Server 2008 R2) is beyond me.  As far as everything I've read goes, downloading is NOT a problem (it wasn't for me from a direct MSFT download link), it's ONLY the product key generator.

This does strike my cynical mind as a publicity stunt - "Look, even we at Microsoft can't cope with the demand for our new OS".

It was blatantly obvious from all the furore over the leak that this would have an absolutely huge demand.  Only an idiot could have assumed that it could be handled by existing infrastructure without significant additional capacity.

-PJC

@pjc007

I got three keys last night without a problem.

Importantly, however, you wont need a key for 30 days, so you can install without the key.

Yeah, you can get a key pretty easy if you know what you're doing. I just tried with an old hotmail account and it popped up.

@weedmonk: So lets just say I knew what I was doing.... what would I be doing exactly? ;)

Must be up and going now. Couldn't get either 32 or 64 bit last night...Just got both on the first tr.

--tayme

Yeah the problem obviously isn't bandwidth cos people have downloaded and installed the beta (like me) the problem is the product key generator which is a tiny fraction of the bandwidth required.

So yeah I am a bit cynical

Ozric - Follow these instructions - blog.hznet.nl/.../how-to-receive-a-valid-windows-7-key

--tayme

@tayme: are you talking about the download only or actually getting a key?

-Login to your passport account.

-Navigate and login into Microsoft Technet(associate it with your Live ID) and remain logged in there.

-Open Notepad and paste this(this site converts the URL, so copy the complete URL and repaste into the notepad). Save is as filename.user.js

// ==UserScript==

// @name           win 7 key

// @namespace      myNamespace

// @include        www.microsoft.com/.../default.aspx

try

{

if(document.getElementsByTagName("p")[0].innerHTML=="The site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day.")

{

var t=setTimeout("location.reload(true);",5000);

}

}

catch(e)

{

}

// ==/UserScript==

- Now open FireFox w/Greasmonkey add on installed. Drag that script file you created onto FF and grease monkey will  recognize and install it.

-Now navigate to "www.microsoft.com/.../default.aspx" (remember this site converts this url, so right click>copy URL.

-FF will keep refreshing this URL until a key pops up.

I have keys and iso files...going to install later this weekend.

--tayme

I'm downloading the x86 version right now and I have the keys for it and the x64 version. Life's good I tell you.

Plus, did Microsoft actually want to create a self-induced DDOS?

@tayme that worked for the key.  I got the download links from neowin and that was not a problem.  

In fact that key link you just sent out worked first try for the 64 page.  Also I refreshed the page in Fire Fox and I got a second key right away.

Time to create a Fusion VM on my Macbook.

Thanks tayme. That worked very fast.

Update:

Free for all. It's working now. Just goto the URL forgot the hoops. STAMPEDE!

You guys are awesome! Thanks. Say hello to my $400 Windows 7 laptop.

Holy Christ I just fired up my Vista VM and the last time I ran Windows update on it was 11/27 from the update dialog box.

For Vista and Office 2007 32 important updates, 201 mb!  Where is subzero with his # of updates for OS X??

Oh well hopefully with 7 this will be the last time I fire this thing up.

@DRWAM is that your production box, as in your primary PC?

If so I would be catious unless you have a lot of time on your hands.  What if something does not work, there is no rolling back.

Also this thing runs out, and if MS does not ship the full version before August you will be dead in the water, plus I would bet there will be at least one more version, beta 2 or a RC.

I think this was intentional.

Just got back home to DC so I can download and install it on my desktop.

Did Microsoft hire the guy from Apple who was responsible for the MobileMe rollout?

John, that guy was a MS employee that consulted for Apple in his off hours.

I got two keys and my download is now going.

I think they did.....

"Did Microsoft hire the guy from Apple who was responsible for the MobileMe rollout?"

Ha. No one is immune. Remember FF3's Download Day that was hyped to be a Guinness event.

I call PR stunt.

Interesting stuff: When the beta was "UP" yesterday I could not get product keys (nor did many people who posted on forums) but since the beta was "PULLED OFFLINE" I was able to just put the link in the address bar and get the keys (32 and 64 bit).

One more fact remains to be seen: if people can actually download the ISOs and get keys while the main pages state that they are not available, how does this count against the beta limit of 2.5 mil? When the beta goes back officially, they will just say that the limit was reached... (?)

Thankx anyway MS.

Win7beta is a great alternative to Vista SP1. (you can quote me on that)

kaadi

The links for both 32 bit and 64 bit are working very well now (atleast for me they did!). I got 2 64 bit keys and 2 32 bit keys with the first attempt.. However, the download link provided by MS at the key page still does not work and the direct download link (for 32 bit) dies midway every time.. Any of you having the same problem not able to download 32 bit (from direct download link and the link provided at the product key page)?? Thanks..

For those who cannot download directly: go torrent! it's safe, as you get exactly the MS iso. All the negative talk on tech sites is just FUD, so you stay away from those sites.

... also: you can get download speeds just as high as with MS servers, plus you have the security of a continued download, without timeouts and failures.

I have tried and tried and tried, every direct link down load i do stops at 300+ mb 500+ mb and so on. Don't understand why it runs so well and fast for the first few hours then just stops all at once.

Me same with iso.

Kadar...which torrent are you using?

Ouch...turns out these keys aren't unique at all. About 10 or 12 being recycled.  Aaah well.

Thanks Lindy. I have a 3GHz quad Mac Pro Tower and a couple other XP PC's [a 3.2GHz and a 3.4 GHz P4] that I built myself. The $400 Vista laptop was a spare for the kids to play, and the older Inspiron 8200 still works. Do you think I ought to install 7 on the old Inspiron 8200?

I also had problems with the DL, but the 64 bit just completed fine. I'll try the 32 bit DL again. I thing that you should keep trying. Which DL was the problem with you guys?

Finally got my key this am too...though the reports that the old Vista Beta keys work intrigued me as well.

But I'm still curious- anybody get an md5 key for a known good download (TechNet subscribers)?  Even though I copied and pasted a link that used microsoft.com as the domain, I'm still a little wary and would like just a little more piece of mind ;)

Thanks

Well my 64 bit downloaded alright, but 32 bit is a problem.. it stops at 300-400 MB every time.. and this is from the direct download link .. no luck yet!

Pingback from  AeroXperience  » Blog Archive   » The release of Beta 1: a missed opportunity

The 32-bit version works extremely fast in Virtual PC.  I dunno what the deal is but even the ISO boots the setup routine faster than Vista did.

Here's an interesting little tidbit of information:

When I installed this in Virtual PC and checked the disk with diskpart, there was absolutely 0 bytes free.

Ok, a lot of people don't know this but Windows XP leaves a bit of space free after a partition, and Windows Vista leaves less, and it's usually before a partition (which is why you can't format a boot drive using the other OS's formatting tools), but Windows 7 actually leaves 0 bytes free on a standard format of the boot drive.  I would bet that means that 7's disk formatting tools are likewise incompatible with Vista or XP.

Interesting....

Also, in case you didn't know already, you can open up a command prompt while Windows XP, Vista, or 7's setup routines are running.  That is, during XP's GUI Setup mode, or in Vista or 7, as early as the disk partitioning GUI screen comes up before it starts copying files.  For advanced attended (not UNattended) installs, you can use utils like diskpart in Vista/7 before using the GUI options.

Just press Shift-F10 to open a command prompt.

Another tidbit of info:

There's a WinRE.CAB in the Windows\System32\Recovery folder.

Windows 7 32bit

thepiratebay.org/.../Microsoft.Windows.7.Beta.1.Build.7000.x86.DVD-GENUiNE.iMAGE

Windows 7 64bit

www.mininova.org/.../2158341

Software: utorrent.com ; bittorrent.com (uninstall DNA)

Yeah, I just noticed...my 32bit iso is not complete...only about 400mb again. full 64bit though. Once I get some time later this weekend, I'll install on my mbp. Does anybody know when the beta expires?

--tayme

tayme, the beta expires in August '09.

@tayme

June or July, if you have a product key.

BTW:  There seems to be a fair bit of network traffic going on during installation.

Interesting....

It looks like they've got some internationalization stuff in here already.  On the RSS Gadget, there's a section that has "Feeds for Canada", "Feeds for Canada - Local Pack 1" and "...Local Pack 2".

Yep, I just finished benching and the 4th attempt for the 32 bit DL failed. Wae, my laptop [supposedly] supports 64 bit. Do you think I should just install the 64 bit?

I'm getting pretty spiritual here but I'm enjoying computing a lot more for some reason. It's like Windows 7 is saying... hey buddy, sorry about what happened last time. Here's a hot mug of tea, now what would you like to do?

Got product key finally too!

DRWAM I would say install 64-bit I have done on my laptop and Vista 64-bit drivers seem to work fine on Windows 7 (for mobile video cards and such)

We need to kill off 32-bit in this generation!

BTW, anybody gonna compliment my new rose pic? This one is 'Remember Me' and is a hybrid tea rose.

Ok so I'm a bit stumped as to the purpose of the 200MB partition.  It looks like it might contain a bootloader for Windows, as well as for the automatic fallback routines for WinRE.  WinRE is stored in a WIM file (ImageX format) on the main data partition though.

It almost looks like WinRE is extracted from the WIM to memory directly, as in, the WIM is "booted" from, but not by way of extracting it to a RAM drive, which is what I initially thought**.  What's interesting is that the WinRE WIM file is much smaller than when you create one manually for Windows Vista using the instructions provided to convert WinPE to WinRE.  Those (Windows Vista WinRE) WIM images are almost 1GB, and partitions need to be made to accomodate them.  Windows 7 improves on that by leaps and bounds.

**This means that the Windows bootloader now supports booting from a WIM image?!?  Also, what happened to the proposed option of mounting VHD's??  Is that still there too?

Thanks CompactD. I'm off all of next week so this will be one of my projects/fun/toys.

"Wae, my laptop [supposedly] supports 64 bit. Do you think I should just install the 64 bit?"

Since this laptop seems to be your "IT fun" computer, why the hell not?

Microsoft collects telemetry data from CEIP and troubleshooting information.  Just installing the software will provide them with feedback on how well it works on your system.

Make sure the vendor has drivers for Vista 64-bit though, or you might run into an issue with unsupported hardware.

It's still worth a shot though.

Thanks Wae. Will do.

Looks like the VHD options are still there:

Right-click on Disk Management in the Computer Management console.

Create VHD and Attach VHD.

Verrrrrry interesting....

it all seems to working again over here.

direct from the original technet link that paul gave us...

once you have completed the survey and have got your key click download in IE and it also seems to start the download manager too... currently it is downloading on mine now (i want the .iso - but I already have Windows 7 installed here). Key is also activated too

=D

WOW!  This VHD stuff is pretty awesome.

I'd like to see if it's possible to grab the VHD drivers off an install, and use them for WinPE, so that mounted VHD's are exposed to Windows Setup....

That way, you could install directly into one on a preformatted disk.

I never had any problems with the download (except the slow speed) but I was using the Microsoft File Transfer program thingy to download off of Connect.  Is the option available for the public download?  I'd suggest using it.

Ok, here it is:

vhdmp.* in the Inf folder.  Should be a .inf, and a .sys file that makes that driver complete.

64 bit version crash and burn in VMware Fusion and Workstation.

I get the following error shorting after clicking on Install.

Windows could not collect the information for [OSImage} since the specified image file [install.wim] does not exist.

@Lindy:

Sounds like a bad ISO download.

Nevermind about the driver - it's not needed.

In diskpart, you can now use the command "create vdisk".

Nice.

Very nice.

Yep in the VMware forums it says the very same thing.  Will download again.

I am now installing Windows 7 inside a 30GB VHD mounted on a 60GB virtual hard drive inside of Virtual PC.

Windows Setup gave a message saying that Windows couldn't be installed on the VHD because the system couldn't boot off it.  I was still able to click "Next" though, and it's installing right this second.  I will see if it needs further work to boot off the VHD though.  I suspect I may have to use the BCDedit commands to add the VHD as a valid boot option.

Another thought that I have is whether or not I can/should be offline-ing the host disk to keep the OS from being "confused" by this C: that's sitting there with a few VHD's but not being used as a boot drive.

Holy crap, it worked.

The drives got jimmy'ed around.  The host drive includes the bootloader, as well as the boot drivers for VHD boot, and has been renamed to D:.  C: is the 30GB VHD that is mounted from it and contains everything else.  I have to try offline-ing the host drive.  I have no idea if I can do that, but it'd be a good way to get rid of the host drive from the user's view.

FYI:  There is no 200MB partition.  It seems that the stuff that would normally be on it is now on D: (the host drive).

This is awesome stuff.  This allows you to move entire hard drive data back and forth between systems very easily (just copy the VHD file).  

Running SysPrep with the Generalize option will allow the drivers to reset so that the installation image is portable between different hardware configurations, just like in Vista.

This is an awesome option for IT pro's.

I would say that Windows 7 is faster than Vista (at least in a VM).  Will it run on 512MB of RAM?  Yes.  Does Vista?  Yes.  Is it good for multitasking?  No.  What about when you install your antivirus software?  You might as well shoot yourself.

Exaggerations aside, just like Vista, you *absolutely need* 1GB of RAM once you get your antivirus on there.  

The RAM requirements for XP go like this:  XP runs on 256MB, but it's not usable once you load an antivirus on there.  512MB becomes usable for basic use.  1GB on XP is "a good experience" for most.  2GB for power users.  Over that, and it's usually overkill, or you're looking at 64-bit for specialized workstation apps.

Double those RAM numbers for Vista/7 - except for the point that everyone should be using 64-bit by now.

Point of note:

You can't offline a VHD host drive in Windows 7.  You also can't change the drive letter because it's a System volume.

Also, the page file goes onto the host drive, NOT the VHD (even though the VHD has the Windows folder in it).

Dual-booters will like this option though.  If you can boot to a Windows 7 WinPE, you should be able to install Windows XP or Vista into another VHD, since the bootloader is on the host drive, and Windows 7 controls that.  If you get bored using an old operating system, all you have to do is unmount the VHD and delete the file from the host drive.  

No more partitioning required.

Do I sound excited about this option?

It's because I am.

@james3mg:

Microsoft's MSDN site lists the SHA1 hash (checksum) for the Windows 7 Beta ISOs as such:

x64 SHA1: E09FDBC1CB3A92CF6CC872040FDAF65553AB62A5

x86 SHA1: 6071184282B2156FF61CDC5260545C078CCA31EE

If needed, a free utility called HashCalc can be used to calculate checksums for all kinds of different algorithms.  You can get it here:

www.download.com/.../3000-2250_4-10130770.html

Enjoy the Beta :)

Dustin

@dtatgenho

Thanks so much for listing those- now I've got confidence I got the correct and full download :)

The servers may be all working again, but I logged in to my Live account, then pasted this URL which gave me the same key for Win 7 32 bit again and allowed me to DL:

www.microsoft.com/.../gcs.aspx

Never mind. It's working again [MS beta DL site].

As I mentioned, I was already able to get the iso yesterday, but I couldn't get the keys.  Went to the Windows 7 site just a few minutes ago, saw the link to get the beta, and very quickly I got the product key that I needed plus the download if I needed it again.

Has anyone checked to see if a 32-bit product key works with the 64-bit version, or vice-versa?

Just went to the Windows 7 site again by chance and it had the download option and went right to giving me the key and installing the download manager.

Waethorn,

I believe they are interchangeable from what I have read on various forums.

I'm still downloading my 32bit ISO but if I'm the first to try it on here, I'll report back what happens when I enter a 64bit key into it.

Vicky

thx vic

LOL microsoft goes to duplicate serials generated to solve thier server problem , what a genius !!!

hahaha i generat about 10 serials , many of them duplicated

used in each time diff live account

some of them thier 32bit duplicated only with no duplicate in 64 bit serials

and every language have a db of serials to be duplicated

microsoft think we are crazy !!!

if they do it to solve the problem ( as i think ) this well be the most genius trick ( I am joking ) LOL

Waethorn, I completely agree with your RAM numbers.  I know lots of lite users still on 512meg of RAM, including integrated graphics running XP and they are perfectly happy.

I would say that Vista (probably 7 as well) does not like single core CPU's as much.  XP is decent on single core CPU for lite users, and give it hyperthreading or a dual core and its peppy.

I read at the technet blog that they are interchangable too. However, I get get a different key for the 64 bit software using my Live log in. When I logged in again using the same link [for the 32 bit DL] I got the same key. So the key must be linked to our Live accounts. All I can say is MS was kind enough to do this after the holidays, otherwise we would be playing instead of shopping!

Here's how I got VHD bootable support on a clean install to work:

Start the DVD/ISO (I used Virtual PC).

Get through all the regular messages until you get to the drive partitioning information.  If you need to load drivers, do that now with the Load Drivers option.

Press Shift-F10.  A command prompt pops-up.

Type the following:

1)  diskpart     [the prompt changes to indicate that diskpart is running]

2)  select disk 0     [this is assuming you have a single hard drive in your system]

3)  create partition primary     [this creates a single partition that is the full size of your hard drive]

4)  active     [this makes it bootable - this is important because the "Next" button on the partition GUI isn't available if you omit this]

5)  assign letter=v     [this is for the host drive letter where the VHD's sit.  this can be whatever you want, but Setup will change the main Windows drive to C]

6)  format fs=ntfs quick     [quick formats NTFS]

7)  create vdisk file="v:\7.vhd" size=30000 type=fixed     [make sure you include the quotes there.  this makes a fixed-size ~30GB VHD on the host drive.  this may take a while to create]

8)  select vdisk file="v:\7.vhd"

9)  attach vdisk

10)  exit     [this exits diskpart]

11)  exit     [this closes the command prompt.  you don't need it anymore]

You should now be back at the GUI partitioning screen.  Hit F5, or the Refresh Button.

You should now see the VHD drive underneath the host drive.  On my Virtual PC setup, my host drive was 60GB, and the VHD was 30GB.

You should also notice that the host drive is now labelled as a System drive.  That's thanks to the "active" command in diskpart.

Click on the VHD (the "30GB" drive).  There will be a warning at the bottom saying Windows can't be installed to the drive.  If you did everything right, the Next button will be available anyway.

That's it.  I've tested this numerous ways in Virtual PC and it works fine.  If the Next button on the GUI partitioner is greyed out, you did something wrong.

I'd like to see if the VHD mount can be taken directly into Virtual PC.  Likely it won't, since the bootloader is installed on the host drive, but it's worth a shot.  I'd also like to see if WinRE is still available, and if the fallback routines work.

As a followup, it doesn't seem to matter what you specify as a drive letter for the host so long as it isn't already taken.

Everytime I try this with slightly different options, it always seems to make the mounted VHD C:, and the host drive D:.  Just FYI: you have to assign a drive letter to the host and specify that same drive letter when specifying which drive the VHD is on in the vdisk commands.

I'm thinking that if you create multiple VHD's and attach them all, the host will probably have a drive letter that's after all VHD....I will check that though.

Also, the only thing you should see on the host drive is the VHD's.  All other files and folders are hidden, and you don't want to mess with them....If you know about the old drive compression schemes from DOS (like DRVSPACE/DBLSPACE) and what happens when you mess with a host drive, well, you don't need to be told about it.

I must say, waiting for the official download seems much simpler than the hoops so many of you jumped through.

As I mumbled before was likely, MS did indeed set the download up through Akamai (probably as planned all along).

Off to lunch 17 miles away while it downloads.

so please discribe , when ms said that there will be only 2.5 million beta tester whom can achieve a key , now we know there is many duplicated keys , so how many registered beta tester in real ... 2.5 m microsoft !!? ha?

LOL

anybody have any info about how many pc's we can active with a single key?

if unlimited so it bad , because ms publish windows server 2008 R2 beta with beta keys without all that playing with our mind and time to get a key .. so if its the same in windows 7 beta , why ms do that bad thing ?? to make credit or to what ??

i love windows 7 beta but ms is the same as i knew :( so bad to say that

official download

http:www.windows7.com

Question. I'm gonna install on my [$400:)] Vista laptop on a second empty partition.

1) Can I dual boot Vista and 7?

2) If my lappy becomes unhappy [or the kids get confused], can I delete the partition and Vista will be fine?

Thanks,

Doc

I'm typing this on my home deskop using, yes you guessed it...

WINDOWS 7 64 ULTIMATE!

I got the ISO from NeoWin and the keys have been leaked to the web. I just activated mine using one and it works. Very freaking sweet.

All I can say is WOW! Major improvement over Vista's performance! Very very quick startup and shutdown, very snappy performance, and Windows Update has drivers for my video card and my wireless. Sweet!

Even my onboard audio works. The graphics are just beautiful. I had no problems with burning the ISO, no problems with the installation, and I"m good to go.

Now if the RTM is this good, Microsoft has got a real winner on their hands.

Instead of virtualizing it, get a decent testing machine and go for it. If you successfully installed at least two Windows installs, it should be a piece of cake.

Windows servers not capable of serving large numbers of requests for large files. They should use BitTorrent. But then again, they have the erroneous mentality that, if it's not invented here, we don't use it.

Rumours are circulating that Apple will move to CES as of next year. Not only are Microsoft's keynotes always complete failures, not they will always be upstaged by Apple at the same show.

@Doc:

Blowing away the newest OS after you get bored of it is going to be a hassle on a dual-boot system.  I'd recommend using a backup and installing it full-tilt on the hardware for a good test.  If you're not willing to reformat to go back to Vista, give it a good run in Virtual PC for an easier option, but you won't get Aero in Virtual PC, so the nice effects aren't going to be there.  It still performs well though.  The post-boot memory footprint is actually in line with XP (not Vista) on a 512MB VM.

There was a whole 200MB left free while sitting idle after boot - OUT OF 512MB!  On an operating system BASED ON VISTA!  That's impressive!!

Before you do ANYTHING, make sure you have an easy-to-work-with backup (raw files is usually the easiest, rather than a compressed backup made from a backup program, such as what you get from OneCare - those types should be used for emergencies only).

Thanks Wae.

Downloaded the official beta and installing on the Acer right now. The beta that I did have (the version that made the 'rents) is lovely. Vista is great, but 7 is even better.

Pingback from  Windows 7 Beta - gongzero.com

It looks like someone is actually doing the bigass coffee table. But doing it right and actually getting a product out there.

www.crunchgear.com/.../look-out-microsoft-surface-the-itable-might-just-trump-you-in-every-way

Just to confirm the beta direct download links that were posted yesterday are definitely the real deal?

First reviews and impressions of Windows 7 are coming in.

In general it's.. boom! BSOD. Then BSOD.. and so on.

What a wonderful OS.

Wae, 32bit takes the 64bit key and probably vice versa.

Robertsjoe, You're a clueless idiot. It's a shame all your Mac seems to get used for is baiting Windows forums and going on and on and on and on and on about microsoft did this, they did that, vista bla bla. Have you tried to do something constructive with it, like making videos and writing like I do on mine. It certainly sounds like you don't.

For the record, my good impression is on my rather decrepit 6 year old Thinkpad T40, 1st gen Pentium M Banias and 1GB RAM. Boots just as fast as XP and so far seems to run just the same. Can't say it's faster as it feels like normal. No Aero graphics (the Radeon 7500 was out of date when IBM put them into the T40s in 2003 let alone now in 2009) so I have spotted a couple of odd quirks but overall so far seems pretty damn decent. Much like my experience of Vista, solid and a decent.

The new taskbar does work somewhat like the OS X Dock which to my mind is not a brilliant thing (it's the big reason my eMac which though used a lot, is not used as much as my Windows PCs) but at least it doesn't dump the trashcan into the fray and it can be set up to work something like the older taskbar. The movability of open apps in it is a nice thing.

If anything, it does seem to highlight there is quite a difference in some ways to OS X in that the latter seems to represent the traditional desktop metaphor in an OS (much of it works just as it did in System 7's Finder if you brush off some of the bells and whistles) whereas perhaps one reason behind Vista's less than rapturous adoption in business is because whilst it works better than the older Windows 95/NT4 desktop metaphor (which was polished up to XP) -- it is a learning curve which some people just cannot take. 7 seems to take it a bit further, I really like the idea of libraries -- it will make organising documents across locations combined with LiveMesh's foldersync much easier to manage.

@lilserenity: www.inquisitr.com/.../windows-7-the-agony-and-the-glory

The horror stories are out there already.

"The horror stories are out there already."

Yeah, he likes it. The horror!

@robertsjoe: Ok you still don't get it. It's a beta release. That means it's not the final version and there are bound to many more problems than in a release piece of software.

Beta is not final software? Got it? No?

Do you remember OS X 10.0 and 10.1? Hopefully you don't because they were both awful and OS X was not even usable until 10.2 and 10.0/1 were not beta releases, they were proper full blown OS releases sold with Macs! OS X was making up for lost time after Pink and Copland and was released according to keeping Apple going and not when it was ready.

MobileMe's rollout when launched was nothing short of a disgrace.

And Leopard has its fair share of problems too, it does on my eMac and was unstable as hell compared to Tiger. This may well have improved since I gave up on it with 10.5.1 but I don't want to mess it up again to find out.

So - get this: Beta software - expect problems, glitches and issues - and that goes for software developed by me, Apple and Microsoft.

Release/Gold Software - expect the odd bug here and there but largely the majority of people should have no problems.

So what's next up, gonna deny that I'm actually using Windows 7 and it's working fine for me?

Or perhaps we could sit down and realise that a computer is just a bunch of cleverly designed souless electronics, a few transistors all bundled up into some integrated circuits pumping out 1s and 0s and that's it. Mac OS X or Windows, they do the same thing. 1s and 0s, how could anybody be passionate about those...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- I use OS X to get some jobs done and Windows to get some other jobs done. Then I go outside and enjoy the rest of my life walking and taking photos -- try it, it's a much more exciting place out there than indoors :)

robertsjoe:

What were you searching on Google for? "Windows +7 +BSOD" ?? Where the hell did you even find that insignificant site? Did you read past the BSODs in that article, where the author unreservedly recommended Windows 7?

You are like the raving loon in the town square who was fun as a side show for the first few minutes, but then quickly becomes annoying and gets shunned by everybody. Have you bought your quota of 'class' and 'taste' today from Apple?

Actually that's a pretty good write up, the BSOD during an upgrade install that does suck. But I've had upgrade installation issues on just about every computer platform going -- the bottom line for everything is backup and install clean, then restore. But then there's this bottom line at the end of that article:

"My general impression of Windows 7 so far is basically this. As soon as TigerDirect in Canada is taking pre-orders I’m jumping in on that line. I am sure that more than a few people will have negative things to say about it but in the 20 some years that I’ve been using Windows products this is really the first one in a long time that I really like. Where I would discourage people from using Vista I would in turn encourage them to use Windows 7.

I still have a bunch of stuff to learn of course and days spent just playing around and tweaking the install but all in all – good job Microsoft – good job."

So here's a soundbite

"Boom boom boom (my Steve Jobs impression) and boom (one for good measure) - oh and boom again - popped the Windows 7 DVD into my 6 year old laptop which I knew didn't have drivers for some of its hardware, e.g. video. About 30 minutes later Windows 7 was fully installed and working. Boom."

I know it's a bit dull but then the whole install process was quite unremarkable here :)

It's freely available now:

www.microsoft.com/.../beta-download.aspx

I am quite happily writing this comment from a properly activated Win 7 Ultimate 32-bit install.  This system dual-boots with Vista Ultimate.

Got the ISO on a Torrent download, then followed Tayme's link to get me a proper key.

When the beta expires, break out GParted as well as EasyBCD to go back to a Vista only system.  Everything's working fine, from my ancient collection of DOS games* (like Wolf 3D) to Half-Life 2.

* Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm using DOSBox

Do me a favor...never, EVER compare me to Robertsjoe...

Once 7 final comes out, this laptop is getting an immediate upgrade.  I'm enjoying 7 so far and can't wait to use the gold version when it comes out

Once 7 final comes out, this laptop is getting an immediate upgrade.  I'm enjoying 7 so far and can't wait to use the gold version when it comes out

"Windows servers not capable of serving large numbers of requests for large files."

Tell that to NASDAQ.  I think they'll disagree.

"Rumours are circulating that Apple will move to CES as of next year."

That is a rumor, but with Steve Jobs ego, I doubt it will happen, as he'd have to share the show, with gasp, anyone else.

""The horror stories are out there already."

Yeah, he likes it. The horror!"

robertsjoe, the pwnphone is ringing, and it's for you.

@robertsjoe

You are a complete Effing moron.  From you link...

"My general impression of Windows 7 so far is basically this. As soon as TigerDirect in Canada is taking pre-orders I’m jumping in on that line. I am sure that more than a few people will have negative things to say about it but in the 20 some years that I’ve been using Windows products this is really the first one in a long time that I really like. Where I would discourage people from using Vista I would in turn encourage them to use Windows 7."

www.techflash.com/.../Microsoft_Unlimited_Windows_7_Beta_downloads_for_two_weeks37395129.html

Unlimited downloads for two weeks apparently. (Instead of the previously specidied 2.5 million limit.)

Good. That gives me some time to decide whether I want to install Windows 7 on my desktop. It takes work to wipe out the XP partition and install 7 on it instead.

Ok so I have the 64bit version up and running in a VM under VMware workstation 6.5

I gave it 2 cores, and 2gigs of RAM.  The host is a quad core with 8gigs of RAM (XP 64bit).

Its faster feeling for sure.  However all new clean installs seem fast.  Still I think its faster than default Vista, Aero on and animations in the default mode.  When using Vista I go back to the classic mode and the GUI speed is drastically improved.  I have also ran Vista with Aero on, but I have gone into the Advanced section/performance and killed off most of the animation stuff which will also speed up the feel of the GUI.   It seems like MS has kept Aero on, but change the speed of the animations like I would do in Vista.

Driver/Software wise its Vista.  Java, Adobe Flash, Adobe reader, VMware tool (drivers for VMware), and Symantec Corporate Edition all installed fine, and when prompted for an OS I chose Vista.  Those few software packages think its Vista.

I think this OS will be adopted by the corporate world, which is where Vista is lagging BADLY.  Its timing really.  

1.  This is what Vista should have been out of the box, as far as bug fixes and performance.

2.  Third party application vendors have finally gotten used to UAC and how to program for it.  IMHO implementing UAC was a must.  However applications that had to run under full admin privileges had the most problems.  Those have been fixed via patches, or by greedy software companies that charge for a new version to fix the problem.

3.  Drivers have caught up to Vista, and from my little experience there will be little if any driver tweaking to get drivers to work with 7.  Much like vendors will supply 2000/XP drivers and they are the same.

4. Hardware has gotten cheaper and faster.  Putting 4 gigs of RAM in a PC when Vista came out was a $200+ price tag.  Now $200 will get you 8gig and 4gig is under $100...heck easily had for under $40 www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx

Had 7 come out when Vista did #2 and #3 would have still been a problem.  #4 maybe but if it runs better with 2gig than Vista first did (see #1), I knew plenty of people with XP and 2gig, gamers that is.  Vista had to blaze the trail.

Now if they could just release one version that allowed you to choose your pieces and parts, like 2008 does then they would have a home run IMHO.

Two extensive tests I would like to see are network copy performance and notebook battery life.  Test them with XP, Vista, 7 and OS X.  Battery life is still better with XP vs Vista, and OS X is better than both.  If 7 can fix that battery life it will go a long way.

The network copy speed should be tested against a Samba server, Windows 2003 file server and Windows 2008 file server to be fair.

Ladies and gentleman. Don't feed the bears! You're reaction is just what he wants. Learn from Mike. not only does he never call any one names, but he looks like he's ignoring much of the BS/flamebaiting. He deserves a big "S" on his chest. So enjoy 7 and go drink some Chai. [new Big Train Spiced Chai at Amazon in fact]

Vicky, I'm like you, I use each OS for which ever it does best for me. It must be loyal to me, not the other way around.

Peace,

Doc

"popped the Windows 7 DVD into my 6 year old laptop which I knew didn't have drivers for some of its hardware, e.g. video. About 30 minutes later Windows 7 was fully installed and working. Boom."

Actually the older machines are the most compatible.  When a new version of Windows comes out it will be compatible to that date or shortly before that compared to hardware.  Its afterward that it has problems as new hardware/chipsets come out it does not know about.

I had a core duo (Not core 2) HP notebook that Vista would install on with out any drivers, or at least the fist Windows update would get the few that were missed.  Installing XP on that PC (March 2007 time frame when new) required the old F6 driver, as in USB 3.5inch disket drive.  XP would not see the hard drive with out the F6 driver because of the new SATA controller, unless I went into the BIOS and put in it "slow boat to china" mode and slowed the HD way down.  After base XP was on it, I had to go to the hardware vendors, Intel, Realtek, etc because HP barely had any drivers for XP.  The XP install took 3X longer.  Now it ran faster than Vista:)

Windows 7 should see even more hardware out of the box than Vista did.

I'm also waiting to load my Windows 7 fully before commenting if it is slower or faster than Windows Vista.

Got Win7 32bit working with all drivers on Fujitsu E8110

I cant get Cisco VPN Client ver 5 to work, even with compatability mode.

After installing it the reboot gives BSOD.

Good thing recovery works like a charm and brings the system back with the Cisco client gone.

Im loving Win7.

Running 7 on my Thinkpad R60 is a pleasure, the new task bar is great . Well worth the minor delay, funny how minor delay in the release of a Beta gets compared to disasters like the Mobile Me fiasco.

I haven't installed photoshop yet but everything I've installed so far works great.

BTW my brothers new MacBook Pro he was bragging about at Christmas already died. To bad, such a pretty toy at least he still has his old Dell to get stuff done with. I'm sure Apple will give him a new one but it took him a week to set it up, what a waste.

Windows 7 is impressive overall so far on this old 939 X2 system. I had a few minor issues, but nothing that is a show stopper. I love the new superbar but feel that they could make it easier to open a new instance of a program without resorting to a right click and navigating the jump list. The devs should also add the option to run a pinned item as administrator in the jump list to save clicks.

I am going to test IE 8 for a few days, but so far I am leaning towards sticking with Firefox. I can't beleive I am saying this, but Firefox displays pages correctly more often than IE 8, even with compatibility mode on.

A small issue with Firefox 3.1 beta 2. Is anyone else also experiencing random crashes with it in Windows 7?

This has happened to me at least 3-4 times since I installed Windows 7

I've been using Firefox 3.0.5 on 7 and that seems pretty reliable to me. In fact I haven't experimented with 3.1 beta at all. (Which I should really given my work is in the field of web development!)

I can't comment on 7 vs Vista because my Vista box (which is still great in my book) is another machine (a fairly good Core 2 Duo, 2GB and 2.6GHz) and this notebook was running XP before. Unfortunately my battery is shot to ribbons in this laptop (one of those many things I need to sort out) but it does seem to be no slower than XP was. It boots quickly all things considered but I'd expect that on a fresh install of XP or Vista too.

My favourite bit is that large show desktop button, unfortunately not having a decent GPU I can't hover to make everything translucent but it's a bigger button target than the old Show Desktop quick launch item, and unlike 'hot spots' in OS X and KDE 4 for example, it requires a Click rather than doing it even if you've just moused over into the corner by accident.

I do notice they have removed the old Windows 95-esque classic menu, which I'm not missing. Also in the Classic UI (W2k esque) the shut down combo box uses the old System font oddly enough. I've reported it.

My big thumbs up is on these libraries, a very nice quick way to aggregate multiple locations into one. Somewhat similaiar to Saved Search Folders in OS X but not based on search or metadata, but rather just locations of files. For people who hold a massive amount of data this is quite good, I can see digital photographers liking that as a way to transparently keep your photos on a backed up piece of media. Even I can make use of it with my negative/slide scans (I'm still and probably always will be a film junky -- it's good to have other interests and arguably I'm more interested in photography, but what earns your crust!)

Overall, seeing as I've used Vista a lot, there's not much to be surprised by but as alluded to, it's a nice refinement. I think the control panel has had a bit of a tidy up from Vista too which especially for network card configuration seemed to really work against everything you knew from XP for not a very good reason.

I'm surprised because I was hoping I'd think "yeah it's good but it's slow on my T40" or whatever, and now I'm finding that I'll probably need two upgrade licenses to 7 when it's released. Damn! :) More money!

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