Guinea-pigs wanted...

[Pyan]

So, is anyone going to help Microsoft iron out the bugs?

Windows 7 now 'available to all'

The latest Windows release will be available to everyone after a surge in demand crashed the Microsoft website on 9 January, the original release date.

In response, the company has lifted a planned limit on the number of copies of the Windows 7 Beta available for download.

But be warned:

Mr Painell (product manager at Microsoft) stressed that consumers should be aware that they are getting a preliminary version of Windows 7 which is meant for testing.

As a result, the software is likely to have problems that haven't been ironed out, and Microsoft does not provide technical support for it.

"It's not ideal for every consumer to install and use it on a daily basis," he explained.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Windows 7 now 'available to all'

 

[Tillane]

As a result, the software is likely to have problems that haven't been ironed out.

As opposed to every single other Microsoft product out there, all of which are bug-free.

Think I'll stick to XP.

 

[Ursa major]

I would hope no operating system would have to be installed on a daily basis.

 

[Lenny]

I have to say that I've been very tempted to install it on my spare hard disk, but there's one documented bug that is really putting me off - it affects only MP3 files. If you try playing them in WMP, then there's an incredibly good chance that the first three or four seconds of the MP3 will get wiped.

Otherwise, you're supposed to see a vast improvement in performance over Vista and XP, and there are some nifty features which I'd like to try.

I might throw caution to the wind, back up my MP3s to my pen drive (if it's big enough), and install it.

 

[Overread]

Way I see it this way Microsoft will have a chance at fixing all those problems that so many geeks find within moments of running a new windows system
After that they will also remove/damage any good improvements that people liked but never really comment on as they are too busy moaning
Regardless its a good move by Microsoft - making an official public Beta rather than an unofficial one (often call the launch )

 

[Wybren]

I have the windows 7 beta on the laptop and it works mostly fine so far, the only problem i have noticed is with the wireless connection dropping out periodically and having to restart the computer, but that doesn't happen too frequently.

 

[Highlander II]

Dear Microsoft - please to be using a more standard naming scheme. Your naming scheme is stupid and nonsensical.

However - how does this version work? Like XP or Vista or is it something new?

 

[Wybren]

Seems to be a bit like vista only faster and prettier

 

[Lirael]

Vista has enough bugs as it is! My laptop won't let me install hardware, hates me using Premiere, doesn't let me add drivers, and I blame vista. ¬_¬

 

[Overread]

ouch Lirael that is a host of problems - have to say its nothing that I have encountered with Vista usage try raising a thread in the tech section and seeing if any of our resident techs can help

 

[AE35Unit]

So is this a followup to Vista,already? Can we go back to XP please,or better still 98 SE!

 

[Happy Joe]

I have been tempted to try the beta (the hackers and beta testers have been thrashing it for quite a while and a great many problems have been ironed out already).
I still run XP variants on 3 of 4 machines (vista 64 on the home theater), you coudn't pay me to go back to SE or even ME (which was an improvement, IMO).
Since upgrading the drives in the HTPC; I have a couple to spare right now and this sounds like a good reason to play with them.

We'll give 'er a try!

Enjoy!

 

[Rosemary]

I've still got backup discs/drives? for previous versions of windows which I hope I won't need.
I had decided not to go ahead with Vista until the little bugs are ironed out.
Maybe I will just wait until Windows 7 has been around a while before downloading.

 

[Lenny]

First impressions of the Windows 7 Beta - I like it. The interface is that little bit slicker than Vista, and the way things are handled, particularly down on the taskbar, makes me happy inside. It might be ~50px high, rather than the standard 30px in other versions of Windows, but the taskbar is, I think, nicer than its Vista counterpart (W7 also makes use of Aero). I'm really enjoying some of the little touches, like hovering over the far right end of the taskbar shows you the desktop with outlines of the open windows, and how you can re-arrange tabs on the taskbar by dragging and dropping (rather than having to install a separate program). The calculator kept me amused for half an hour earlier - standard and scientific modes are still there, and they've been joined by statistics and my personal favourite: programmer. It's got a little display showing 64-bit binary, and has a number of operations I'd use in binary mathermatics!!

I've only had one major problem so far, and that was locking the computer when I went for tea - I came back and had to create a new explorer.exe process. Methinks the Maths Input Pad crashed it (a pad that you draw on, and it translates your squiggles into mathematical formulae).

I'll get more chance to really look at W7 over the weekend, and then I might post a full review. I'll also stick it up on TheGUE.

 

[Wybren]

I am liking it so far, no major problems except the wireless cutting out every so often and needing to restart the computer but that is not frequent enough to cause too much frustration, oh and occasionally the clock stops and you need to restart the bar, but again no big dramas.

 

[The Ace]

Err Highlander ? XP is Windows 5 and Vista is Windows 6. They'll probably come up with a more interesting name closer to release.

 

[Lenny]

Skype, Chrome, and Comodo Personal Firewall.

What have they all got in common? Windows 7 won't run them.

The only problems i've had so far are those three, and the desktop going black and very occasionally freezing if I lock it.