Windows 7 release to manufacturing reportedly on track for July 13th
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jul 3rd 2009 4:04PM
posted Jul 3rd 2009 4:04PM
Get out your Bill Gates commemorative calendars folks, 'cause it looks like we now have a few more dates to mark off on the road to Windows 7 availability. While Microsoft still isn't saying anything official itself just yet, a number of different sources are reporting that the company has set July 10th as the date for the final gold build of Windows 7, while the big release to manufacturing date is apparently on track for July 13th. Of course, things could still change if there's a major bug or other problem encountered, but barring any disasters, that'll likely be the same build that finds its way onto your PC this fall.
Why dose Balmer continuously set himself up for goofy looking photo ops?
Better than the creepy Apple photos, I mean, this guy I can actually laugh at. Apple I just kinda.. feel intimidated/creeped out.
No offense to any Apple fans. :U But a lot of Apple ads are extremely annoying.
@Orbital
LOL you act as if our very lifes depend on you saying good things about apple employees :P
He's the CEO of the world largest software maker and let's not forget, a billionaire. Do you think he cares?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE&feature=fvw
must watch.
made my year :)
(not really, but....... yea)
As the CEO of the largest software company on the planet he should... You'd think with those billions he could hire someone to help him out in this area...
Why would he care what a bunch of nobodies on the internet think of him? I'm sure you guys care what he thinks of you...
No matter what...I like Steve Ballmer's attitude. He has so much energy. Imagine Steve Jobs shouting 'Developers, Developers, Developers.....'. He just cannot. Imagine Jobs running around on the stage shouting 'I LOVE THIS COMPANY'. We never heard Jobs say that, right?
Oh God, now we've got CEO fanboys.
"Jobs is better than Balmer!!!"
"No, no, Balmer is better"
Children, please!
Clearly Gates is even better =]
he looks like a meany :(
"Why dose Balmer continuously set himself up for goofy looking photo ops?"
He doesn't. Engadget takes a frame from a video, usually mid-movement, and one that looks awkward, to use for these stories.
While on the other hand they make damn sure Steve Jobs always shown still, and god-like with out of focus Apple logo in the background.
Nobody can hold a candle to RMS..
Possibly because he has someone standing by with a fire extinguisher..
I love this company!
bleeerrrp
I think Ballmer is paying homage to MJ - by doing the Thriller dance.
"Why would he care what a bunch of nobodies on the internet think of him? I'm sure you guys care what he thinks of you..."
I was thinking more of what the board, his senior staff, and the CEOs of other companies Microsoft deals with. I'm sure he doesn't give two shits about what we think - that's obvious from the last 3 versions of Internet Explorer...
I also noticed there aren't any chairs on the stage... Probably couldn't get chair insurance.
lol, look at all the votes for:
"Major problems! I'm taking it back (or already have"
quite a lot of vindictive apple fangirls out there.
bit of pre-cum as they pressed vote i bet :)
@John Doe
I don't really care about the CEO's presentation style or whether they shout about loving the company or not... Just take a look at their respective market performances since becoming CEO.
Since he became CEO (again), Steve Jobs has completely turned around a near-bankrupt company with massive growth in their computer line, totally changed the Music industry, created arguably the most popular consumer product in history (iPod), and is already making major strides into the mobile phone industry, including redefining the standard for high-end smartphones.
I don't think I need to talk about Balmer's accomplishments thus far..
That's right loosely, you don't. Because otherwise we'd have to talk about the restructure of MS's services department which quietly got rid of some of the people responsible for Vista's poor launch, the ever increasing presence in the console world, the increases in server business and WinMo's increase in market share against the iPhone, wouldn't we?
And that's just to begin with - MS are at one of the most exciting points in their history with W7, Zune HD, WinMo 7, Natal, Surface and other innovations coming out - yes, fanboys, businesses put MS at number four in the innovation rankings out of all the fortune 500 (Apple are number one incidentally) and have faith in Ballmer's vision.
So, no, no-one - at least no-one with any understanding of what MS are trying to achieve - really cares what you think.
Why does it take 3 months to go from going gold to being available at the store?
Uh....cus they have to actually make the discs/manuals/packaging and ship them worldwide?
Blame the hardware manufactures for this. Vista hit RTM 2 months before it was released and there were still really poor driver support when it came out. The drivers that were out were buggy and not optimized. It's one of the main reasons why Vista got such a bad rap. It was a good 6 months later before decent drivers were available.
Windows 7 is based on Vista so most drivers designed for Vista should work with 7 with no problems, but it looks like Microsoft is not going to take any chances this time around, which is why they are giving them 3 months this time. It would be nice if they would release the OS early as download only and then come out in stores in Oct. It would keep the n00bs from causing problems,
It's so OEM can test for hardware, drivers incompatibilities etc.
Shawnmos you wrote: "It would be nice if they would release the OS early as download only and then come out in stores in Oct. It would keep the n00bs from causing problems".
Ummm, they did exactly just that.
The RC and the Beta before that have been available for free download now for a combined 7 months.
Anyone who wanted it or needed a copy of it, could have and should have had one by now.
The differences between the RC and the upcoming RTM are nominal at best if going by the very latest builds out there.
@Juaquin
That's why BitTorrent is a much more efficient distribution method.
@WindowsFTW: I am running the RC right now. I am talking about the RTM though. Media Center has a pretty bad bug which i am hoping got fixed in the RTM.
I'm happy with the RC for a while. They can take their time and make it perfect.
(not that I can't find any bugs myself, but I'm sure they can find stuff do on it)
can*
RC is working good for me as well. AND I believe that it's good until May 2010 or something like that. AND I just heard you can migrate from RC using an external drive. All well and good.
I hear that, but it will be nice when it's released so publishers will no longer be able to say we don't support it since it's in beta ..
I doubted I was going to be a fanboy of Win7 having ditched Vista, but I have to say Win 7 is a great OS.
Can't wait until it's leaked on the torrent sites! Wish Microsoft would sell it as soon as it it hits RTM. Even if only available for download.
Not the brightest bulb, are ya?
What else do you want the whole world you like to do?
Was that english? I've already got it preordered.
MSDNAA is great for this, you can download the RTM as soon as it's released!
Also : "What else do you want the whole world you like to do?"....
... WTF?
@Shenanigans
Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
GOOD LORD, please bless us with the brains to comprehend
what this guy is trying to say
Should be on Newsgroups shortly then...
So this means they release it early to businesses and stuff?
Some business already upgraded to the RC.
i have build 7264 i wonder what build the RTM will be
build 7100 is mine. 32-bit rc.
The final code is being signed off on July 13th?
I thought the OS wasn't going to be available till October 22nd?
If the RTM hits next week it will probably be on torrent sites soon afterwards so it will be pirated months before it comes out officially unless I am missing something.
October 22 is the day you can buy it off store shelves. They send it to manufacturers earlier so they can get computers out around the same time with the OS preloaded.
You're not.
What a great birthday present Microsoft. Being born on Friday the 13th wasn't so unlucky after all.
if you were born in 1990 we have the same birthday!
ok that' all.
Does anybody know if it hits MSDN/MSDNAA the same time it goes RTM?
Yep
I got Vista a month or two early through MSDNAA before Vista hit the shelves (and there weren't even any machines coming pre-loaded at that point) so quite possibly yes.
Good good. Can't wait to upgrade from Vista.
MSDN yes, MSDNAA no. MSDNAA is October 22.
MSDN, yes (Pro/Premium FTW!). TechNet Plus, yes.
MSDNAA, well... I've heard conflicting reports, mostly that they won't have it until GA date of Oct 22...
And on July 13th, I'll be saying : "Thanks MSDNAA!"
Steve Balmer = NERD
steve ballmer = rich
steve ballmer = doesn't care about engadget posts about steve ballmer
With that said, I have to add:
"DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!!!"
Most engadget readers = nerds
My first thought after seeing this image:
Man. Steve Balmer in a sweater. That will be one sweaty mess.
@Mam00th
meanwhile i'll be saying "Thanks Demonoid"
13th + windows = match made in hell ?
Match made in Fort Knox more like.
Oh and if you don't want W7 no-one's making you buy it, chief.
Not buying 7 soon... Vista is working just fine and also dual-booted 7RC is working just fine. Why would I need to buy 7 anyways in the near future? Will wait until it's time to buy a new laptop.
HA! Too bad it took Vista until right about when 7 is about to come out to get the "Why Upgrade" status. Remember this? It was only a couple weeks ago (and still a little) where you would hear "XP is good enough, why waste money to upgrade to Vista?" or what about "XP is too bloated and expensive, why should I upgrade from 98SE?"
MSDNAA doesn't get it until October 22. MSDN/Technet, though, get it July 13.
Think the RTM is upgradeable to final (pending if there are changes between RTM and final)?
I know RTM is "release-to-manufacturing" so that is definitely final, but will there be major differences between that and the one we can buy on store shelves?
If it gets released on TechNet, I might get the RTM then upgrade to the store-bought one, hopefully the upgrade between the two is possible.
RTM IS final, there is no "upgrading" to be done.
"I know RTM is "release-to-manufacturing" so that is definitely final, but will there be major differences between that and the one we can buy on store shelves?"
Why would there be major differences between the "definitely final" release and the "store shelf" release? ;)
heck yes... i just hope ALPS comes up with a 64 bit touchpad driver b/c thats the only thing that is keeping me from ordering the 64 bit instead of 32 bit version...
Am i the only one not loving 7 yet?
For god sakes, YES!!!! Now stop posting and go clean your room!
Yes.
Win 7 = best OS out there.
I have asked this before but let me try again.. What will be the reasons for upgrading to Vista Pro aka Windows 7?
UGH, the only reason why you haven't gotten an answer, because people are tired of you and your stupid ass snarky attitude by saying "Vista Pro" this, "Vista Pro" that!
How about change the way you toot your horn mister, then you'll get some quality answers.
Wow, I just read your posting history, and I can tell you're a troll and nobody likes you. Nothing but negativity in your writings and obviously heavily biased towards Apple. Why buy Leopard SP2 when most of it's "new features & improvements" were available (for free) since Windows 98 and Linix?
Upgrade and find out for yourself, rather that wasting time trolling here disingenuously.
Ok so its July 13th for MSDN...not MSDNAA(which i never heard of lol)....but what about Tech Net?? AFAIK Tech Net is usually the same as MSDN, so is it the 13th as well?
I'm not running Mac OS unfortunately. Once again, no answer for my question. No Vista Pro for me until I get sensible answer. :)
If you have to come to Engadget and ask people to give you reasons and not do the actual research for your own needs, then I don't know what to say for you. I'm sure others can come up with reasons why you're not doing research, and I can think of a few too. I don't know who you are and what you need; therefore if I was to give you the nice features that 7 has to offer, you will most likely turn it down and say it's not needed.
So all in all, you're not really hurting anybody with your decision. Keep whatever you have while we actually use 7 because we've done the leg work and found out what it can do to meet our needs efficiently. Geeze, you can even download the RC for FREE and see what it does for you.
Why should I upgrade to Leopard Pro? Until you can provide me with a long list explaining to me why this isn't just a service pack it is just a service pack. Until you can explain to me why I should try out these new features when they've been available to Windows users for YEARS Snow Leopard is a failed product. PROVE ME WRONG.
The question is so simple and yet only lame answers? This is not about Leopard Pro. This is about Vista Pro! Leopard Pro
costs only $29 whereas Vista Pro costs at least 3X more. Hence, need justification in this economy. Once again, why Vista Pro?
@Bluberry
What do you have running now? What are you used to? If you want answers, you have to provide more..
If you like Vista, then keep it :)
for the rest of us who have been using Windows 7 (all the time in my case) and like it, we'll upgrade. How's that sound?
The question I asked you was very simple, yet you refused to answer. That means that Snow Leopard is nothing but a service pack. It's a complete and utter failure. Vista Service Pack 2 has more upgrades in it than Snow Leopard.
Snow Leopard upgrade costs $29. Windows 7 Upgrade costs $49. That's 1.68 times more, not 3XXX. I paid $300 for my netbook and $450 for my desktop using higher quality parts than any iMac...Now tell me how I'm able to buy a laptop and desktop from Apple for $750. Don't give me the excuse that they will break down in a month. I've had the desktop for 6 years and all I've done is install a new motherboard/cpu combo and more RAM (yes that $450 figure is including all the upgrades). So how is paying $98 ($49+$49) + $750 for a desktop and netbook that have lasted me 7 years a worse economic decision than If I had payed $3000+ for a desktop Mac 7 years ago + $2500 for a small "light" laptop + $29? We add that up and it's $848 for the PC, and $5,529 for the Mac..but now you have to buy another desktop Mac because you can't upgrade to Snow Leopard so that's another $3,300. In reality we get $848 dollars for two PC's and $8,829 for the Mac...in case you didn't do the math, that's over 10X more than the PC. So which one needs justification in this economy again?
Hurray you have to pay $30 for OpenCL a free and open source framework. You finally get an almost 64bit version OS...You should have had that years ago. Oh but at least you get a new version of Quicktime. Everything that you had to pay for in Snow Leopard, Vista Users got for free in Service Pack 2. DirectX 11 was made free to Vista in October. GPU processing was unveiled in Vista, which was later ported to XP with Service Pack 3. Windows XP and Vista users can both download WMP 11. Well, Microsoft has always had exchange support. Face it...Snow leopard is just Apple playing catch-up and you shouldn't have had to pay for it. It's funny isn't it, that people say Microsoft is copying Apple when they add complely new features, but Apple is revolutionizing the OS world by copying features from Windows.
And to all the people who haven't realized it by now yes I'm trolling. I'm doing it because it makes people like Blueberry sputter with rage because he's gotten upset by someone using the exact same tactics he's using. Of course I'm not serious here.
I literally had the RC install cd booting in my main machine when I read this article. I have technet so I guess I'll wait a week and just install RTM. Awesome.
Now all I need are Windows 7 HP drivers for my all in one devices....
My HP C4200 has worked from day one with Windows 7. Which all in one do you have?
try installing in windows vista compatibility mode. my dell printer driver said "this os is not supported" as well, installing in win vista mode fixed that. Just right click and select "vista" on the compatibility tab, or let the wizard do it for you after a failed installation attempt.
Everyone knows Windows 2000 and Windows XP cannot be killed.
No matter how hard you try to convince the masses, and no matter how much weight and cushy deals you have with hardware manufacturers, and no matter how much you speak about DirectX, Internet Explorer, collaboration, 3D shenanigans, translucent windows, time-savings and productivity of the 'knowledge worker'.
See you in 2012 with Windows XP and Windows 2000. Har.
Regards,
Seen-It-All-Before
I wonder what "Bill & Co." will do if this OS turns out to be no better than "Vista", release another OS again after just 2 service packs, like they did with Vista, & make all you fanboys pay again. How quickly people forget how MS released 4 service packs for Windows 2000 in order to get that release right, but needing cash I guess they ruled that out when Vista issues started arising by the the handfuls.
whuh? By the time 7 is released to the public, it will have been almost 3 years since Vista's release. Since when do people complain about a company releasing an OS with many improvements in a timely fashion? When I was using ubuntu, I updated the OS every 6 months. Apple releases new versions of OSX at least as often as MS, am I right?
On another note, why am I replying to a person who puts Vista in quotation marks?
about time!! windows 7 FTEW!!!! it'll reign as the true king of OSes!!!
i think it runs better than xp on my old optiplex gx260. definitely a little faster, even for 7100. official copy shall smite all weaker offerings...
two 7 home premium 32-bits, please.
Yes, a week till the MS servers are raped once again with traffic trying to download Windows 7. Beta and RC both did a number of their download servers, hope they finally get some extra capacity for the 13th if 7 actually comith on MSDN and Technet. When the Beta hit, I couldn't even log into the Vol License servers because the traffic was so heavy.