Windows 7 RC coming May 5 for public consumption, out now for MSDN / TechNet subscribers?
By Ross Miller 
posted Apr 18th 2009 2:39PM
posted Apr 18th 2009 2:39PM
[Via Ars Technica; thanks, John]
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CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Will be getting this as soon as possible so I can upgrade from Build 7000!!!!
@oneMadRssn
Windows versions before 3.1 don't count?
Argh, that was meant for the comment below. My bad.
I think I read somewhere that it's not upgradable....
So we will have to burn a new disc, and install to a new partition (or rewrite the current win7 partition).
I'll be holding back for a bit though, sincemy 7900GT causes horrid tearing glitches on the 64-bit build 7000 I installed. At first it only happened when I started a game or something like that, but now it happens within 30 seconds of getting into the GUI and everything becomes completely incomprehensible. Yet everything else in my PC seems to be working fine, as if nothing has happened. I installed NVIDIA's Windows 7 driver and that didn't help at all. I could try a Vista 64 driver I suppose, but I'm getting lazy. I read that tearing is a known problem with a lot of the 7900GTs and I can confirm this since I see it in my games on winXP sometimes, but on win7 it's catastrophic and makes the whole OS useless (except for Safe-Mode but that's no fun).
Guess I'll have to get a new GPU if I want to enjoy the new software. =(
To clarify: System Software 1 to 6 and Mac OS 7 to 10.
surfaced... That's exactly why you should upgrade, newer versions bring new solutions. My old dell from 2004 wasn't playing videos in the 7000 build because of a problem with the intel graphics driver but I updated and now everything is great, it's like having a new computer again! Also, if you're not running the 64 bit driver what makes you think it should run properly?
anyone know what build it is? i am on 7077 now and people are saying its pretty damn close to the final
Build 7100
Win 7 not yet on technet OR msdn.
7 attempts to get an OS right, maybe this time lucky?
on that basis, how many attempts have Apple had
:-P
i think its the 8th version actually:
windows 3.1* - 1
windows 95 -2
windows 98* - 3
windows NT* - 4
windows 2000 - 5
windows xp - 6
windows vista -7
windows 7 - 8
* = all versions, second editions, or otherwise.
Windows NT 3.51
Windows 4 / 2000
Windows 5 / XP
Windows 6 / Vista
Windows 7
The windows 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 95osr2, 98, ME family are not part of this numbering scheme since they are a different family of OS.
Actually I remember MS stated:
2000 was 5.0
XP was 5.1
Vista was 6
and Win7 was 6.1
lol ms logic.
Windows 7 is 6.1
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/14/why-7.aspx
It took Apple 10 attempts to get here...you know the X in OS X stands for 10 right?
wow, does it really matter what version it is? they can name it whatever they want, it's their product. Everyone has failures and they move on. A lot of people say MS has had so many failures but they have obviously been doing something right. Maybe it was the lack of competition, well they have it now obviously and it will only drive them to do better.
i don't care what they number it, as long as i can put it on laptops and sell them on craigslist!
to all they guys say that Vista is 6 or 6.1, it's actually 6.5, then comes 7, XP is 5. I have reliable sources.
@VisionEP
Good try, but you somehow missed one of the most important versions ever (NT4). Even though it sucked horribly by todays standards, it brought NT into the mainstream server OS world.
Windows NT line-up
Windows NT3.51
Windows NT4
Windows 2000 (NT5)
Windows XP (NT5.1)
Windows Vista (NT6)
Windows 7 (NT6.1)
For those that want to argue this, start -> run -> winver
I can't believe people are still arguing over version numbers. Microsoft use version numbers as a marketing tool as illustrated by Word which went 1, 2, 6. They skipped 3, 4, and 5 to give Word the same version number of WordPerect to make it look like it was as mature a product.
They're doing the same with Windows 7 which is version 6.1 but they want to try and make it look like it's a completely different version to Vista. If you call GetVersionEx() on Windows 7 it returns dwMajorVersion == 6, dwMinorVersion == 1 meaning it is 6.1.
Versions numbers from 2K to Vista are shown on MSDN here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383745.aspx
As you can see the version numbers are:
Windows 2000 - 0x0500
Windows Server 2003, Windows XP - 0x0501
Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows XP with SP2 - 0x0502
Windows Vista - 0x0600
Windows Server 2008 - 0x0600
I hope that's cleared things up for people like feraligatr8 or are you now going to start arguing that Microsoft have implemented GetVersionEx() wrong and have put the wrong version numbers up on MSDN?
As a side note, the opening comment of "7 attempts to get an OS right, maybe this time lucky?" reminded me of something John Carmack said about DirectX: "But of course I have worries as we look towards this general compute topic, because if MS took 9 tries to get it right…well". The comment was from this interview:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=532&type=expert&pid=3
So why isn't this breaking news? If the iPhone OS 3.0 RC was available, it would be plastered all over the place.
Well they did post it.
You have to remember more Apple users tend to visit this site. Maybe not but they are way more vocal about what they buy...
Microsoft is hiding it, like they now hide the help pull down menu on all windows. Its the new anti-intuitive features that make it so great... NOT.
A "NOT" joke? really? REALLY? I thought you apple boys were the "creative" type...
If Apple users tend to visit this place, why do pro-Apple posts consistently get voted down, and "Windows ain't that bad" posts get voted up?
I'm a Windows user, I love W7. But my perception has been that commenters here are mostly pro-Microsoft.
"So why isn't this breaking news? If the iPhone OS 3.0 RC was available, it would be plastered all over the place." - JMR
Because Apple doesn't do 18 public betas and 3 RCs with their OS releases.
"But my perception has been that commenters here are mostly pro-Microsoft." - notselfcreated
Welcome to the Engadget comments section, where the Redmond Horde loves to frolic.
The mac fanboys have TUAW so let us have Engadget!
@Quix: Microsoft does more builds because a desktop OS is more complicated than a phone OS. There has only been one public test of Windows 7 so far that has been sanctioned by Microsoft, everything else was a leak.
LOL, agreed. I always get voted down for an Apple related comment. Even though I point out time and time again, I'm not a 'fanboy', I'm a Windows Developer.
Its the same ghetto mentality that makes Kia drivers with souped up neon lights and $30k worth of extras feel important. Its still a Kia, despite the fact you payed (even making minimum wage) more wasting time hacking it. Worse, its ugly.
Its obvious when you compare the stereotyped image:
Apple = lean, fit, smart, nerd is cool
Microsoft = Ballmer Fat, Tattooed Zune Obese, dork is never cool
"If Apple users tend to visit this place, why do pro-Apple posts consistently get voted down, and "Windows ain't that bad" posts get voted up?"
It's not that. If you take anybody's comment and disregard which company they're speaking about, you'll find that the ones that get voted low are always the ones that are nonsensical, rude, unfounded, immature, unreasoned, or simple hyperbole. The ones that get voted up are well reasoned, thoughtful, informed, or otherwise benefit the discussion rather than degrade it. If you were to take only the highest ranked comments from a long thread, you'd see plenty of people saying positive things for both companies and it'd resemble more of a debate than a fanboy net brawl. I always down vote the first type of commenter I described. They add nothing to a discussion on technology.
Cuz like everyone has it leaked frm b4 lol....so it's no biggie....but it's a gd point..
@Stevorevo
Just letting you know that in Vista and Windows 7 have huge question mark buttons on the top right of the windows. There's your help. Don't make uninformed nit-picks. Then end up sounding more asinine than usual.
Nick8708, that is a complete load of rubbish. The comment rankings do not, and have never, reflected the quality of the comment. It is too easy - ALL to easy - to find polite and reasoned pro-Apple comments that have been low-ranked, and rude and incorrect pro-MS (and pro-Pre, and pro-Android) comments sitting with a highest-ranked position. All too easy, and that's the plain truth.
Have a look at steveorevo's comment above. Not rude. From a windows developer. Not actually pro-Apple, but if you miss the word "stereotyped" you might confuse the comment as being pro-Apple. Clearly, many people have missed that word because SURPRISE the comment is low-ranked. Wow, shocker. Non-rude, not incorrect comment that's easily confused as being pro-Apple, and it is low-ranked. OMG SURPRISE!
Have a look also at the comment by patriotsn1, above. A useless, rude, snide jibe at Apple fans. No informational content, just a personal attack. And anti-Apple. And what do you know? Go on, guess. Yep, that's right, Nick - it is highly ranked. SURPRISE again.
What you are doing, is confusing your own opinions with objective facts. When you see a comment that is rude and unfactual, but pro-MS, you obviously see it differently than you see a rude and unfactual pro-Apple comment. You see the pro-MS one as being "okay" but the pro-Apple one as being "trollish". So when you see the pro-MS one being high ranked and the pro-Apple one as being low-ranked, you think that is "right" and the comment rankings are "fair", when in fact, since they are both rude and unfactual, the rankings are not fair - BOTH should be low-ranked.
Don't try and rewrite history, don't try and whitewash the facts, just accept and admit what most half-way-intelligent people have already realised (and what anyone can easily check by reading a dozen articles' comments) - on most articles, the hater trolls control the comment rankings, and the sheer obviousness of that fact puts it beyond dispute.
It is bad enough we have to put up with the stupid comment ranking trolls and the vandalism they perform here, but to have you come along and say, "nah, everything looks okay here" is just too much. Don't show me a field of manure and tell me it is a chocolate farm. And don't tell me the comment rankings fairly and accurately reflect the quality of the comments.
Check out the trouble Mike had on the first page of comments on 'New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess" if you want more proof that comments are ranked according to the company mentioned, rather than the quality (or indeed, the content) of the comment.
i think Microsoft is not good as Mac on Marketing their products ,i think Mac speaks Louder
Mac is the annoying neighbor who blares their music, advertisements, out their window and when you ask them to turn it down a bit they sneer and give you the finger...because they are Apple and that is how they roll...like an arrogant prick.
And now that MS is firing back Apple is getting all pissy like...because again that is how a primadonna rolls.
I don't have it yet on my TechNet download site :(
No, it's not on MSDN either. Apparently it's only available to partners at the moment (OEMs and ISVs).
Not long now though :)
yeah, not on my TechNet download page yet either
Yep, neither MSDN or Technet have it for me.
Nope not on Technet or Partner Portal. Last Technet download post was April 15th and that was Disc 1: Office Multi-Language Pack 2007 (x64, x86) - DVD (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese).
Partner Portal is still talking about the beta and even when the beta was suppose to be posted on Partner Portal for download it wasn't. I ended up having an invite to the beta from connect.microsoft.com that I got it from first.
Any hack for preventing the Beta (Build 7000) from expiring ?
I don't think I need to download the bulky ISO and upgarde. Happy with the Beta (Until final release).
Windows 7 is a great OS. The speed is the biggest improvement no doubt. Currently I am running build 7068 trouble free.
yea, performance is way more consistant, i havent experienced any slow downs that occur over time when u install more programs and stuff. i only got BSOD like twice in build 7000 and I've had it since its official release, with build 7068 i've had for less than a week and have gotten BSOD like 3 times =\.
Weird, what kind of hardware do you have? I've had 7 on 3 lappys and I haven't had a BSOD since XP.
Yeah, the only BSOD I've had on my current PC (got it around November '07) was on Vista... During stress testing when I OC'd my E6750 to 3.5GHz and it didn't like being stressed for more than half an hour =P
Haven't bothered putting it past 3.2GHz since then, but W7 is so much nicer than anything I've used before (inc. OSX, ugh grey). The one main problem I had was when I was sorting out my music folders (renaming songs and albums to a standard format etc.), and Windows Explorer crashed after around 40 minutes, then was fine for another half an hour, then crashed again, but it's still in beta, so hey ;P
I haven't gotten BSOD since Win 98 when my CPU fan broke. That stereotype must go.
Yeah the only time ive gotten BSoD for years has been overclocking which is to be expected.
ugh, I was running build 7000 on my desktop fine, no problems at all...
installed build 7057 on my laptop... not so much fun... had a few BSOD's (though that was due to a component of the antivirus component) and have had many other problems :(
can't wait 'til the RC comes out so I can do a nice fresh reinstall (would download a newer build but I live in Australia and as such have a measly 12gb of download a month, however I can download it at uni if it's not on the torrentz, a la with a download client like the beta had)
SWEEEET.
Yeah, I haven't BSOD'd on any of my 5 computers since I installed a bad driver in Windows 98 SE like 10 years ago (including my current 7000 build install). I don't get the stereotype either. The same people that get chronic BSOD's in Windows would get constant kernel panics in OSX. It's what I like to call "operator error". Or pebkac...either way...