Windows 7 Beta automatic shutdowns begin today, RC users safe until March 1st
You're not still running Windows 7 Beta are you? Tsk tsk, better get your RC build before your system starts spontaneously shutting down every 2 hours. As Microsoft has warned repeatedly, Windows 7 Beta builds will begin bi-hourly shutdowns starting on July 1st in a bid to move you over to the latest release candidate. RC user will suffer the same treatment starting March 1st, 2010 on the way to a June 1st expiration -- well after the October 22nd launch date of Windows 7 to retail. This concludes this Engadget public service announcement, your regularly scheduled snarkiness will return in a moment.
[Thanks, Kyle]
[Thanks, Kyle]



















Seems to me that there is nothing in this article that would cause people to be upset at Microsoft or bring up any other computer companies for any reason... That being said, if such an event should happen, it can here forth be considered "trolling" as this disclaimer has been posted.
Just look at the comments below - what a pitiful excuse for a flame war.
Well said sir, but 2010? Thats long enough for a crack to come out.
I am running Win7 Beta and so far, it has not s
@alo8a - dude, i just damn near fell in the floor. Best laugh i had all day. thx.
Yeah, Windows 7 Beta is the new candlejack
Or rather, it would be, if
RC is so old.. build 7260 (RTM build) is the way to go.
Doesn't mean it better, full of debug code, processes and services that slow down operation.
You mean build 7264 :P
running 7624 atm =p
Its not an RTM build. Its close
No thanks, serial numbers don't work on 7264.
John: What does that symbol in your avatar mean?
Aphex Twin logo.
I have build 7057, does that mean it'll happen to me, or just 7000?
I believe 7057 is RC branch so it will have similar procedure as 7100, but you should really upgrade anyway, 7100 is far superior to 7057.
Build 7077 is the first RC build, so your copy will start shutting down unless you upgrade to something 7077 or higher.
I have 7057 too. This is seriously the first time I've heard about this.
@chrisk1590:
Run "winver" (no quotes) at a command prompt or from the run dialog box. The window that pops up will (among other things) show you when your evaluation period expires.
Cool, it expires next year. Thanks a lot.
so I hope Microsoft work a very fast boot :)
I'm actually in the process of transferring all of my files (100+GB's) to my external hard drive. I've got the RTM build on a DVD, and am ready to install it when these files FINALLY copy over to my external hard drive. I've got 18 minutes remaining. (I started over an hour ago...)
I'm actually running build 7000 right now. Anxious to see if there are any real nice improvements from 7000 to 7260.
Yes, I'm very last minute. Whoopsie!
Same here, but only 16gb. And the only thing thats really important to me there is my /b/ folder, I have all the other important stuff on several flash drives.
You don't have the RTM build... the RTM will be signed at around July 13th , then it will be recompiled into build 7300 and shipped to partners.
BTW, are you trying to admit you pirated a retail copy of windows 7? cause you know... I don't engadget approves.
@Beastage, no, that is not what I am trying to say at all..
I had mistaken my version of Win 7 for another one. I am actually now running Windows 7 Build 7100 as of ten minutes ago.
I ACCIDENTALLY WINDOWS 7
Ever heard of partitions ? It means your data stays put and you are free to reinstall your OS, helps with fragmentation too.
@Haikibutsu
By /b/ folder I bet you mean furry porn.
@Zane
7260 is so old.. build 7264 (RTM branch) is the way to go.
Well this sucks. So June 1st that was promised is now March 1st. 3 Months with Bi-Hourly shutdowns is a joke.
I wonder what will happen to other builds, like 7260 or 7264.
What on Earth are you complaining about? I think you need to calm down and re-read the article SLOWLY so you actually get it.
No, that was never what was promised.
You either read wrong or simply never read their statement.
MS was very clear (since the announcement was officially made about the RC versions intricacies) that March 1st would be the start of the bi-hourly shutdowns, whereas June 1st is when the RC will expire altogether.
Besides, I don't see what the problem is.
W7 will officially hit the shelves half a year before the bi-hourly shutdowns anyways, so anyone who wants to purchase the retail copy can do so with plenty of time to spare.
This is simply put a NON-ISSUE.
Oh, and for what it's worth, those of us who are using the RC are using the ultimate version of their OS for FREE, for ~ a year.
So what's the problem again?
"...before your system starts spontaneously shutting down every 2 hours."
Wow, Windows 7 really is an upgrade!
That would be funny, besides for the fact that it is a totally free beta version of an operating system that will be sold worldwide, for money.
I lol'd.
What a bunch of ingrates some of you are.
You get to use the Ultimate version of their OS for FREE, for an entire year before it expires (and roughly 9 months before the bi-hourly shutdowns), and yet you still complain.
Instead of being a bunch of ungrateful whiners, go out and buy a retail copy when it hits the shelves in October, nearly half a year before March comes rolling around.
People like you are a complete waist of my time! Dude complaining about this is extremely unnecessary and I'm a Mac fanboy!
I see a sense of humor is not required to use Windows.
@Andir3.0
What the hell does your time have to do with your waist?
Say what?
Ah, I see you are pointing to the wrong person.
I think I will just stick with Vista and patch it up with the Windows 7 appearance since Microsoft is treating Europe and Vista Ultimate users like crap.
actually it is not totally microsoft fault, EU keeps blocking them.. and I think it was mentioned in one of articles about price in EU...
EU is kind of bias to microsoft, cuz they never say anything to other companies (HOW STUPID IS IT TO NOT LET MICROSOFT BUNDLE THEIR IE(IT IS THEIR PRODUCT!!!))
Blame it on your government(s), not on MS.
One would think Nazi's still reign supreme over the EU what with the rather capricious and draconian approaches your government(s) take when it comes to MS.
Am I hearing this correctly? The EU makes one misguided move against MS so it's OK for MS to jack up the prices and talk BS about how they have to do it to comply?
I think I'll blame MS for screwing me and then lying about it thanks. The buety of the free market is that they just lost a sale to TPB.
When did they jack up the prices? I just got a brand new operating system for $49.99... seems pretty good to me.
In the UK its £49.99, or $82.
@ fanman , that's the same with everything really, everything in the UK costs more, iphone costs 199 and 299 pounds with contract, games cost like in the US but only with Pound replacing the USD.
@ fanman
OMG $83! Lets all commit suicide over the insane price.
@fanman
"The buety of the free market is that they just lost a sale to TPB."
Are you referring to ThePirateBay??? Last I heard, yesterday I think is was, it's a sunken ship...
I have a Win 7 iso and licence I've not used. How do I figure out which build I have?
look at iso file name.. it should be there..
Thanks...I got 7100 which I believe is a RC build
Yup, 7100 is on the RC branch so you should be fine!
DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS
Alright, I can't resist... DEVELOPERS
I'm still running 7068 but it says it's permanently activated and hasn't given me any warnings... weird. My flatmate was getting warning messages on his.
Oh well... I have the RC ISO and backed up my files. Let's see what happens.
Ah wait ok... says my evaluation end date is 6/1/2010 4:59:59 PM. Sounds like the RC expiry date to me.
Don't all versions of Windows shut down every hour????
No sir, they do not. You have been misinformed. I hope for your sake a crafty salesman didn't con you into spending $100's more for a system with lower specs by telling you this.
Even *IF* they did, that would still be 1 more hour of *productive* use than what you would get out of a competing fruity OS.
LOL, thanks. That was hilarious. I really shouldn't be drinking when I read these comments. Now I might need a keyboard for my Mac. :)
It'll not be the first time you've had a wipe a sticky fluid off your Macbook, eh Paul?
LOL, I don't know what they make the keys out of, but it's definitely non-stick. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-xiXhJ08v8
well, it depends how the whether is like outside. but why would you want to open and close your windows every hour?
thats *weather
damn it engadget, why isn't there an edit button.. -_-
Can someone give me reasons for upgrading to Vista Pro aka Windows 7?
No, if by now you weren't able to find all the reasons on the thousands upon thousands of sources on the internet (engadget included) then you simply don't deserve it.
Because your Windows 95 is slowly but surely getting a bit ancient...
Jun 25th 2009 6:45PM What a rip off! People will stick with their good old XP. Who wants to pay for Vista Pro!
Jun 19th 2009 4:48PM XP will be around when MS introduces Windows 8 in 2020 because Vista and now Vista Pro (aka Windows 7) is still a lame OS
Jun 18th 2009 4:01AM Businesses have decided against Vista long ago. Now, why this will change with Vista Pro aka Windows 7.
get a new line troll...
Very interesting. 4 replies and yet not one good reason was given for upgrading to Vista Pro. Not even one! :)
I guess no Vista Pro for me. :)
You're a douche
Here's a reason. It has a dock like OS X and a copy of Expose, something that Apple had like five years ago. The next version might have something like Time Machine, Spaces, Stacks, Quicklook, iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD and Photobooth.
The guy is still waiting for a serious reply. It wasn't a dumb question if you already have vista and it's working relatively well for you. Can't anyone find a sensible reply to give?
Here. Does your XP and the above post fancy mac have DirectX 11? Can you play games on a mac at all I mean not the crappy ones. Other thing on the mac works just fine :)
LOL, that's the Windows user response for everything. Games.
Hey, your PC has viruses. Why do you put up with that?
Games.
Hey, the video software for Windows sucks. How can you stand that?
Games.
Hey, your PC just crashed. Why don't you care?
Games.
Hey, your cheap PC motherboard from Korea just got fried after two days.
Games.
Hey, you need to defrag your hard drive. Why?
Games.
Hey, your registry just got corrupted. How do you put up with that?
Games.
Hey, you need a new video card every six months. Why?
Games.
Hey, Logic Pro and Final Cut don't work on this PC. Why?
Games.
Hey, your PC is butt ugly. How do you stand it?
Games.
Hey, look at this, I can now play games on my Mac: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacman3000/sets/72157618624214222/
Uh, Games?
Hey, your PC has viruses. Why do you put up with that?
Kaspersky + Brains.
Hey, the video software for Windows sucks. How can you stand that?
What video software? I'm pretty sure Adobe products are same for either platform.
Hey, your PC just crashed. Why don't you care?
Yes, because one crash in a year is really outraging for all configurations of PCs out there.
Hey, your cheap PC motherboard from Korea just got fried after two days.
Don't buy cheap motherboards? Oh right, mac fanboys have no idea how to choose hardware because Apple just takes all the generic hardware and sells for crazy prices for mac sheep to buy.
Hey, you need to defrag your hard drive. Why?
Mac's don't have hard drives?
Hey, your registry just got corrupted. How do you put up with that?
Never heard of it.
Hey, you need a new video card every six months. Why?
At least we can change and choose the one we want/need?
Hey, Logic Pro and Final Cut don't work on this PC. Why?
Hey, professionals don't troll on Engadget. They work in Final Cut. And they don't care what platform it is for.
Hey, your PC is butt ugly. How do you stand it?
Hey, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&SubCategory=7&N=2010090007
Computer Hardware > Computer Cases (1-20 of 773 Results)
Hey, look at this, I can now play games on my Mac: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacman3000/sets/72157618624214222/
Hey, look... eh, nothing to look at. Sad.
@Paul: You said, "Here's a reason. It has a dock like OS X and a copy of Expose, something that Apple had like five years ago. The next version might have something like Time Machine, Spaces, Stacks, Quicklook, iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD and Photobooth"
Windows Vista already has had Shadow Copy (or what you would call 'Time Machine') since it launched, which it inherited from Server 2003. Microsoft already has something called Virtual Desktop Manager (what you'd call 'Spaces'), Windows Explorer has a Details pane (what you'd call Quicklook) and Windows Vista has its own simple set of creativity software. iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, iWeb and iDVD shouldn't count because they're not a part of OS X technically. Photobooth is more of a play application, than anything.
Windows 7 will already have access to all these 'missing' features.
Why did you get bootcamp?
Games.
Oh my god paul, seriously I haven't seen someone so heavily biased against Microsoft. Ya they made crappy decisions, but Apple is not so much an angel in this case either.
You're talking about how Windows gets viruses, assuming that OS X doesn't. Possibly because the user base is a lot higher on Windows that that's where the hacking market has shifted. If it was reverse, you would see more hackers and viruses for the OS X platform. It also on apples blog page that they even recommended virus protection programs like Norton, despite the fact that they advertise to be not vulnerable to viruses. They quickly removed it after people complained and mocked Apple of that blog statement.
Another is to compare the OS X Dock to Windows Taskbar is fine, there's a lot of debate about it's originality, however the beauty of the W7 Taskbar is that it actually does some great stuff that doesn't require Expose. Even with expose being a great application/window viewer, your documents and windows are hard to spot when everything shrinks to fit onto one screen vs. hovering over the live preview which will float that window to the top and make everything else transparent. There's quite a bit of things copied from Windows that has been implemented into OS X, like Command + Tab to do tabbed multitasking, UI changes, contextual menus (added into OS 9, but available in way earlier versions of Windows) Frontrow which was already done with Media Center, Time Machine vs System Restore, and the other iLife applications that do come bundled, but in the end you need to pay for the next upgrade which essentially should be made free with the amount of money already spent for OS + Hardware costs. Even with Snowleopard releasing, people are taunting the "new" screen recording which was available since (and maybe before) Windows 2000 via a free download from Microsoft to this very day.
in the end, both OS's are practically doing the same thing, the only differences people point out are very biased, because they both hold so many similarities, you can't really sit there and say that either Microsoft or Apple done it first. Right now it's coming to more usability then features. Many technicians are finding WIndows 7 easier to perform with, because it can actually does things with what people wanted.
I work on both Mac's and PC's. I have a vista machine at home with a PowerPC lastest aluminum laptop and a Intel PowerMac at work. With working on everything for what I need, they both do the same thing and they both lack things too. However when it comes down to people complaining about Windows, usually the problems within Windows is mostly people who don't know how to take care of their computers, because Mac's crash just as much as PC's do. An example of this is: it's the fact that there's more plug-ins and applications that are easily downloadable for PC's then Mac, and that when the casual user downloads something and they see a "NEXT" button, they will click without reading.
Because you'll get nice looking graphics unlike the horrible 16 colors in MS-DOS installed on your PC.
Whoopsie that was meant for Solo. The reply system sucks.
I am so glad I gave up on Windows back in 2004.
TROLL ALERT! TROLL ALERT!
Please, proceed to EXIT -->
Well spotted, sir
Don't make me taze you, bro!
Dude, you're not the only one. Moving from Windows was the best decision I've made in ten years.
@Paul a. Chapel: Moving from your mom's basement should be your next goal.
Right after I move out of your mother's bedroom.
I'm hiding in her cupboard.
Anyone who says "Tsk Tsk" deserves a kick in the dink.
...and "dink" is okay?
Yep. Dink is cool.
I like windows 7, but when mine expired this morning, "Ubuntu" was the only thought going through my head. Yey to no scheduled shutdowns?
Although I am an Ubuntu user (and a tremendous fan), I think the fact that Windows 7 has a free Beta and RC (which lasts for 9 more months) is amazing, and you can still upgrade to the RC.
On the other hand, if you are interested in Ubuntu (or Linux in general), it is really worth checking out.
You can tell this is going to be a good version of Windows because the snark associated with posts about it is so incredibly weak.
Even the haters sound like they're phoning it in. It's remarkable!
That must mean the new Grilled Chicken at KFC is the best stuff on Earth... because I've heard nothing but bad things about it.
@Andir 3.0
I have heard nothing bad about you then I read your snarky comment LOL sad little lonely fanboi
That doesn't even make sense...
And I don't consider myself a fanboi as much as a hater ;) I support anyone that's not a monopolistic company.
Andir - Ah a Linux fan then? cos otherwise all that's left is a company with a monopoly in the OS industry or a company with a monopoly in the PMP n music download industry.