Windows 7 Beta available to download on Jan 9th

MisterJones · Post by **MisterJones** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:17 am

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/window ... -beta.aspx

As of today, I am running the Windows 7 Beta on several different PCs including my laptop, my work PC, and my PC at home, which I upgraded recently to Windows 7 from Windows Vista SP1. (I’ll be outlining the PCs I’m using to test Windows 7 shortly.) I’m all connected with HomeGroup, I’ve got several different Libraries set up, and I’m loving the new Windows Taskbar. I’ve got Windows Media Center recording my favorite TV shows and my Zune 80 syncing up with the Zune software. And things are even better with Windows Live Essentials installed. I find the Windows 7 Beta to be an amazing beta release and I am extremely excited for you to get your hands on it later this week! I’d like to take a moment to share some specifics regarding the Windows 7 Beta that I think are very important for people looking to give Windows 7 a spin.

On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. 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.

The Windows 7 Beta will be available in English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi, and each language will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions (except Hindi which will only be available in 32-bit). Because the Windows 7 Beta will be offered download-only, it will be provided to you as an ISO image (an .iso file) that you download. After downloading either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta, you will be required to burn the ISO image to a DVD to install Windows 7. So you want to be sure you have a DVD burner before spending the time downloading the ISO image.

To burn the ISO image of the Windows 7 Beta to DVD, if your PC comes with Nero or Roxio products – you should be able to burn the ISO image to DVD. If you don’t already have DVD burning software on your PC, you can also check out ImgBurn which is free and can be downloaded here.

The Windows 7 Beta only supports Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades. So if you intend to do an upgrade – be sure it is on a PC running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. We are not yet announcing anything regarding finalized upgrade paths for Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Beta will be only available in one edition, which is roughly equivalent the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista.

Also, another important thing to keep in mind is that the Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1st, 2009.

I also need to emphasize that this is a beta of an unreleased operating system. Be sure to backup all your important data. As much as the Windows 7 Beta completely rocks, part of the beta process is discovering bugs and reporting those bugs. Some of those bugs could possibly lead to data loss. I tend to be a risk-taker myself and have gone all-out with the Windows 7 Beta by putting it on almost all my PCs both at work and at home, but not everyone should do this. I recommend using Windows Vista’s Backup and Restore features to ensure your information is backed up before trying out the Windows 7 Beta. Click here for several methods of backing up your data in Windows Vista.

The Windows 7 Beta is targeted toward the enthusiast crowd – people excited and knowledgeable with technology. If you don’t quite understand much of what I’ve written above, it is probably best you don’t try to install the Windows 7 Beta.

If you are an IT Professional, you can visit the Springboard Series for Windows 7 on TechNet (see the Windows 7 tab) on January 9th to sign up for the Windows 7 Beta but also can also get access to dynamic resources including video walkthroughs and the new Windows 7 forums.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:56 am

wow.. windiws 7 already going into beta when it's been how long since vista was released.. uh... almost two years?

EDIT: site's going rather slow.. guess people are already getting on this beta eh?

funkyass · Post by **funkyass** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:16 am

what MJ linked isn't the site to get it. it comes out tomorrow afternoon.

Truth Unknown · Post by **Truth Unknown** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:22 am

adventure_of_link wrote:wow.. windiws 7 already going into beta when it's been how long since vista was released.. uh... almost two years?

How is this different from the time between from 95 to 98 to ME/2000 to XP? Not trying to attack your comment, it just bugs me to see comments like that about Vista.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:33 am

funkyass wrote:what MJ linked isn't the site to get it. it comes out tomorrow afternoon.

Oh. alright then.

and Truth, you also gotta consider that it took over five years to release Vista..

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:32 am

adventure_of_link wrote:
funkyass wrote:what MJ linked isn't the site to get it. it comes out tomorrow afternoon.
Oh. alright then.

and Truth, you also gotta consider that it took over five years to release Vista..

And Vista was hopelessly delayed, as well as a piece of shit?

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:08 am

and aol needs to consider that MS is on a permanent faster cycle when it comes to putting out new OS's

xp to vista was the exception, not the norm.

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:01 pm

From what I gather (could be wrong) ...

Download link will appear at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/
at the top left of the page.

The link points here:
http://www.microsoft.com//windows/windo ... nload.aspx

The link should go live today at 12PM PST, or 3PM EST. You'll need a Windows Live ID to get one. One ID = one key. 2.5 million to go around.

Supposedly the download will stay up for a while, it's just the keys that run out.

I was wanting to take a look at that new task panel API to see if I can do something neat with it.

<EDIT: have a key, thanks!>

Post by **odditude** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:42 pm

byuu wrote:could someone lend me one of theirs?

check pm.

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:52 pm

Awesome, thanks a bunch!! Now I just need to get the ISO and Win 7 platform SDK :D
(shouldn't be a problem there. Worst case the bay should have it, already have the SHA-1 to the release.)

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:53 pm

they're pretty bogged.

if i don't come away with a beta, i think i'm downgrading the desktop to xp.

vista is too demanding of it. it's like 7 years old, and can't really be upgraded anymore.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:04 pm

how do I get the key byuu? I'm looking at the top left of that site and not seeing anything about any sort of beta or key download.

byuu · Post by **byuu** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:21 pm

how do I get the key byuu? I'm looking at the top left of that site and not seeing anything about any sort of beta or key download.

It's Microsoft. They botched the whole thing. Are you surprised? :P
They must love bad PR and pissing off early adopters.

They never put the link on the main page, but they had it linked to on the TechNet page. Took a few dozens tries to get to the Live ID login, then that timed out, then they removed the page.

So who knows.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:47 pm

ah, I figured they must have removed it. I knew they had it for certain subscribers but I was hoping on getting in on the public download. sigh, go figure.

funkyass · Post by **funkyass** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:01 am

they adding additional infrastructure.

people must really hate vista... the vista beta wasn't that bad IIRC.

kick · Post by **kick** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:30 am

byuu wrote:could someone lend me one of theirs?

+1

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:17 am

Lawl, leave it to Microsoft to fuck up and screw over all there Vista users again, heh Vista was always just a public beta of Windows 7.

[32bit] http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... EN_DVD.iso
[64bit] http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... EN_DVD.ISO

EDIT: anyone got a key for me please?

kick · Post by **kick** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:26 am

franpa wrote: EDIT: anyone got a key for me please?

Same here.

franpa,could you post the SHA-1 hashes as well?

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:11 am

yeah I got the iso now but I still could use a key.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:56 am

No, I just got the links from www.Tweakguides.com and they don't list the hashes.

edit: also, the main page for Windows 7 if your after a key when it goes back online. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/eval ... 53205.aspx

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:58 am

franpa wrote:edit: also, the main page for Windows 7 if your after a key when it goes back online. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/eval ... 53205.aspx

and even at 1AM EST the extra servers for the keys still aren't up yet my windows 7 download is progressing nicely at ~450KBps

btw thanks Franpa for posting all the links.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:07 am

I've scored a constant 174KB/s which is nice since I'm on a 1.5mbit connection.

EDIT: http://blog.hznet.nl/2009/01/10/how-to- ... dows-7-key

1) if your taken to a search engine (windows live search etc.) re-paste the link into the URL box, don't F5.

2) it works with FF 3 and I have a key ^^"

3) takes lots of tries.

4) example of the page you get the key on http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h133/ ... led-36.png

Post by **badinsults** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:26 am

adventure_of_link wrote:wow.. windiws 7 already going into beta when it's been how long since vista was released.. uh... almost two years?

And most Linux distros have a release cycle of 6 months.

You know, Vista is better than XP, but still Windows XP is clinged onto as if Vista was the disaster that was ME. The company that I am working for right now even refuses to upgrade to IE7! People who cling to XP are just afraid of change. Personally, I would like to see the software that I am having to work with ported to Linux, as it is more suited to that environment, and my coworkers agree. However, people seem to be scared of Linux, or anything that isn't XP. I'm sure Windows 7 will be way better than XP, but despite the looming deadline of end of support for XP, companies and in turn individuals will resist it. As long as the fear of upgrade is around, people will cling to XP, despite it becoming increasingly unstable and irrelevant.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:33 am

badinsults wrote:You know, Vista is better than XP

Vista has WORSE Start Menu bugs then XP! With UAC disabled and an Administrator account, can you delete a folder in the Start Menu that has sub folders? no. Does it instead display some permissions error and create a COPY of what your deleting in the Recycle Bin? Yes -.- (I am the only user installed on the PC)

Sometimes the 2nd bug occurs for no reason o_o as in, also occurs for folders that DON'T contain sub folders.

h4tred · Post by **h4tred** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:44 am

People who cling to XP are just afraid of change.

No. I am clinging to XP since I DO NOT support bloat. Even though I have a PC now that can run many things comfortably, I refuse to support products that are nothing but bloat.

If Windows 7 is at least a major improvement over Vista, then I might try it. Until then, XP stays.