# Windows 7 public beta



## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Any updated news on Windows 7 public beta release? I recall some comments about January 2009 but had not seen any recent updates on its release for public testing. 
Thanks


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Hansen said:


> Any updated news on Windows 7 public beta release? I recall some comments about January 2009 but had not seen any recent updates on its release for public testing.
> Thanks


Where is Larry when you need him?

Come on Larry, what's the latest skinny?


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Current information points to January 19th.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

I bet I see it at the CES next week....


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Bet you do as well.. but I suspect the download ISO files will appear on TechNet and other legal download facilities just before or just after the 19th.



hdtvfan0001 said:


> I bet I see it at the CES next week....


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

LarryFlowers said:


> Bet you do as well.. but I suspect the download ISO files will appear on TechNet and other legal download facilities just before or just after the 19th.


Maybe I'll luck out and get some "free samples".....I got a VP from MS to give me 2 fully licensed Visa Ulitmate disks at another conference...so who kinows...


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## Pinion413 (Oct 21, 2007)

I'm very much looking forward to this, and have a new spare hard drive on the way to run it solo. I'd prefer not to dual-boot and then have to piece this install back together once I'm done with the beta. :grin:

I'm curious to see how it performs compared to Vista x64 on this rig.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

Available since 12/26/2008 
Arc..........: 32bit
Source.......: Leak
OS Ver.......: 6.1.7000.0-Windows.7.beta.1
OS Lang......: en
Edition......: ULTIMATE (EditionID.Default)


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Thanks for all the updated information. My plan is to test Windows 7 on a XP laptop I have available. Due to the size of the hard drive (40 gb), I can't really dual boot or partition out the XP stuff for later. I'll probably do a new install wiping out the XP on the drive. But, what's the best way to revert back to XP if I need to do so. I really do not want to have to reinstall XP from the CDs and all the other stuff. Can I use something like Acronis True Image to take a snap shot of the XP laptop and put that on a USB hard drive and then use that to put the laptop to the condition it is today? Can a re-install via USB drive be done this way?

Thanks


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Thanks for all the updated information. My plan is to test Windows 7 on a XP laptop I have available. Due to the size of the hard drive (40 gb), I can't really dual boot or partition out the XP stuff for later. I'll probably do a new install wiping out the XP on the drive. But, what's the best way to revert back to XP if I need to do so. I really do not want to have to reinstall XP from the CDs and all the other stuff. Can I use something like Acronis True Image to take a snap shot of the XP laptop and put that on a USB hard drive and then use that to put the laptop to the condition it is today? Can a re-install via USB drive be done this way?
> 
> Thanks


Yes, as long as the laptop can use the USB ports and can recognize the external drive while booted with the Acronis CD, it will work. You can test that by booting with the Acronis rescue CD

I'd actually suggest picking up a second HDD on Craigslist or Ebay for a song, and then swapping out the drives, leaving the XP installation intact and ready to go back in when desired.
And for extra fun, run a good undelete program on the secondhand drive before you load it up. You find all kinds of interesting things on them


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

deltafowler said:


> I'd actually suggest picking up a second HDD on Craigslist or Ebay for a song, and then swapping out the drives, leaving the XP installation intact and ready to go back in when desired.
> And for extra fun, run a good undelete program on the secondhand drive before you load it up. You find all kinds of interesting things on them


Thanks. That's a real good idea.


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

so if you were to install windows 7 on a xp or vista pc, would the new OS just wipe out the old OS or would you manually have to do something?


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## Pinion413 (Oct 21, 2007)

dave29 said:


> so if you were to install windows 7 on a xp or vista pc, would the new OS just wipe out the old OS or would you manually have to do something?


It all depends on how you do it.

You can either wipe the partition (and all your data) and do a clean install, or, if you have a secondary drive/partition, you can do a dual-boot install.

Oh, and choice "C", upgrade if that option is available. :grin:


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## ImBack234 (Aug 26, 2008)

So is vista going to be like windows "me" an os they just couldn't get right?
So they just go on to the next and forget about it. :eek2:


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

ImBack234 said:


> So is vista going to be like windows "me" an os they just couldn't get right?
> So they just go on to the next and forget about it. :eek2:


Sorta Kinda....


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

deltafowler said:


> Available since 12/26/2008
> Arc..........: 32bit
> Source.......: Leak
> OS Ver.......: 6.1.7000.0-Windows.7.beta.1
> ...


Ok, so how do I get this?


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

smiddy said:


> Ok, so how do I get this?


Did you try Google?


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Wait a few more days for the public beta. The files on torrent right now will not properly update through Windows Update.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

My personal recommendation is to wait the 2 weeks or so to get the final version 7000 Beta download. It will be readily available and will come in both 32 and 64 bit versions, and you won't have to wonder if there is anything in the download that you wouldn't want to be there.

Larry


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

LarryFlowers said:


> My personal recommendation is to wait the 2 weeks or so to get the final version 7000 Beta download. It will be readily available and will come in both 32 and 64 bit versions, and you won't have to wonder if there is anything in the download that you wouldn't want to be there.
> 
> Larry


There are times like these that its good to be 2nd or 3rd in line.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

deltafowler said:


> Did you try Google?


Nope, I didn't. Should I?  I kept moving my mouse over your writing and there was no link. I will run a search for it and see what turns up.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

ImBack234 said:


> So is vista going to be like windows "me" an os they just couldn't get right?
> So they just go on to the next and forget about it. :eek2:


Vista is much more like Windows NT than ME. It is a complete rewrite of the OS...not just an incremental improvement. Windows 7 will begin (and maybe end) the polishing of Vista much as Windows 2000 and then XP improved upon NT.

There's a fair amount of discussion that Windows 7 may be the last desktop OS we see from Microsoft...of course it could be around for 5+ years.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

smiddy said:


> Nope, I didn't. Should I?  I kept moving my mouse over your writing and there was no link. I will run a search for it and see what turns up.


If you search for the information I posted, you will find what you need.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Worth noting for you "Applephiles"... Early reports show that iTunes, the iPhone 3G and Apple TV are all working without any difficulties under Windows 7 Beta V7000 abd the same goes for Zune, Office 2007, Windows Live, Windows Live Essentials, Adobe Photoshop Elements V6 & V7, Firefox, and Antivirus apps like Free AVG and Grisoft.

No one I know legitimately testing this version is using any of the Internet Security Suites, so no info there as yet.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

deltafowler said:


> If you search for the information I posted, you will find what you need.


Ok, thanks!


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

LarryFlowers said:


> Worth noting for you "Applephiles"... Early reports show that iTunes, the iPhone 3G and Apple TV are all working without any difficulties under Windows 7 Beta V7000 abd the same goes for Zune, Office 2007, Windows Live, Windows Live Essentials, Adobe Photoshop Elements V6 & V7, Firefox, and Antivirus apps like Free AVG and Grisoft.
> 
> No one I know legitimately testing this version is using any of the Internet Security Suites, so no info there as yet.


My Zune is very important to me, so it is nice that it works with it.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> and Antivirus apps like Free AVG and Grisoft.


AVG is Girsoft.

Legitimately testing?
So, if you obtained a copy through "other means" you're not legitimately testing it? :lol: :nono:


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

While i realize that there are those out there who think it is perfectly acceptable to download software from Torrent sources.. it isn't. But then that's my ethics.

There are at least 2 issues already reported with Windows 7 torrent downloads.

I received 2 reports one said he was running AVG, the other said Girsoft, since I don't use either one I was unaware they were the same.



deltafowler said:


> AVG is Girsoft.
> 
> Legitimately testing?
> So, if you obtained a copy through "other means" you're not legitimately testing it? :lol: :nono:


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## ImBack234 (Aug 26, 2008)

Well just about any product from micro**** is a beta product with the way ms does things.:eek2:


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Good news is that Windows 7 appears to be as "lean and mean" as XP SP3. Using a very conservative hardware platform*** by today's standards, ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes ran 23 "real-world" tests comparing 7 to XP and Vista, and 7 was faster than both in all but 2 "file move" tests, losing to XP in one and Vista in the other. And that was running a beta build of 7 (7000) that probably still has some debugging code running.

Article here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236

/steve

***Hardware tested: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz fitted with an NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS and 1GB of RAM


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## Groundhog45 (Nov 10, 2005)

Is the public beta going to be a 90 day license? I'm looking forward to giving this a try and replacing my Vista install with Windows 7.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Vista's final release candidate (not beta) was good for 180 days. There will only be one Beta and one release candidate this time so I suspect the Release Candidate will be good for 180 days or about 90 days after RTM (release to manufacturing)

Larry



Groundhog45 said:


> Is the public beta going to be a 90 day license? I'm looking forward to giving this a try and replacing my Vista install with Windows 7.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

The story I read over at ARSTechnica said the beta is to expire August 1, IIRC.

So, is it possible to install this without burning a DVD? My burner is broken and I have been putting off buying one because I don't burn or read that many DVD's. (still have a CDRW)


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## ImBack234 (Aug 26, 2008)

Lee L said:


> My burner is broken and I have been putting off buying one.


You may want to get one for $21.00, I just got two for friends.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

Public Beta starts Friday: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

Have fun with it... !!!

Things I've found that won't install so far:
Adobe CS4 Master Collection
Adobe CS4 Photoshop Extended
Roxio 2009... well it will install, but Launch.exe won't run. Individual applications run fine once you fine the individual exes.

So if you rely on those, wait until at least the next release. Adobe Acrobat 9 Extended installs and runs fine.

(64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate)


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Time to buy yet ANOTHER trial hard drive and cartridge. EIther that, or hold off on a 64-bit copy of Ubuntu.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Since the beta site is operational and there are active threads about it, I've closed this one.

Thanks everyone,
Tom


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