Thanks for your interest in the Windows 7 Beta. The volume has been phenomenal -- we’re in the process of adding more servers to handle the demand. We’re sorry for the delay and we’ll re-post the Beta as soon as we can ensure a quality download experience.
Curious as to how its far better then Vista? Everything I see says its Vista and not much more. How in a few hours can you tell its far better then Vista?
I am posting from a Vista box but the things I think are better about Vista over XP would never of been obvious in a few hours. It was just different at first. And I had used like 4 versions of Longhorn before Vista became the new name.
Again I am not arguing but rather asking what you feel is better as I dont have it in my hands. But others I trust do and have all shrugged and said ..... Sheeshhhh what a waste. Its Vista sp2.
As I said, I was just mentioning what kryyst has reported, but others (like zdnet) have reported that Win7 is faster in almost every meaningful benchmark than Vista or XP - and it's still in beta. Kryyst also said he considers the UI and the general system feel to be a less jarring experience coming from XP than Vista was, which hopefully means that the "change for change's sake" mentality that a lot of people accused Vista of having will be toned down.
Me, I'm still downloading and wondering if I'll ever get a key... still don't know where I'll install it yet.
First you don't need a key to install it, but installing it without a key only gives you 30 days. The beta key gives you an activation until august.
As to why I think it's far better then vista. It feels faster, I haven't benchmarked anything that's just that gut feeling. The UI feels more responsive and it certainly boots up faster. The primary reason though that I think it boots faster is that it doesn't have that big sidebar loading on the right which always seems to take for ever to load.
The task bar snaps and window snaps are nice, they don't change your life or anything but they feel like a step in the right direction. They are functional and just work.
On the more backend side of things. The installer is quick and does a more minimal install, again similar to 2008 server. It installs more of a core OS experience and you have the option to add more which I appreciate.
In windows 7 there isn't one specific thing that I feel makes it all better then Vista. But it's all the little things. Vista to me always feels like I'm fighting the OS or that the OS is trying to impress me with some big flashy show that I don't need. 7 on the other hand does what I want it to do and expect it to do. Like I said earlier it feels like a natural progression from XP. It feels like an improved OS. That's an experience I've never gotten from Vista.
Windows 7 isn't going to change your life. But when Windows 7 comes out retail I would recomend it to customers/employees who ask. I will also be ording new machines with windows 7 on them with no regrets.
Buy a Vista PC as of July 1, upgrade to Windows 7 for free. Details on the Windows 7 Upgrade Program are starting to trickle in: the program's eligibility looks like it will begin on July 1, 2009.
Its awesome so far Having trouble with X.P drivers, so i'ma give the Vista ones a go. I had the same problem with the same hardware when I tried the Vista beta
Tex, I haven't downloaded it yet. And personally I like vista. I do think XP was easier to navigate around but I do think vista is a heck of a lot more stable.
I also think a lot of people would have liked vista better than xp if they would have given it a fair chance. ANd I think this go around people will give it more of a chance. Is the whole world going to go mac?
Two undeniable truths about vista compared to xp are It feels clunky and it is slower. So far me, if it faster than vista but similar to it, I'm sure I'll like it.
Curious as to how its far better then Vista? Everything I see says its Vista and not much more. How in a few hours can you tell its far better then Vista?
I am posting from a Vista box but the things I think are better about Vista over XP would never of been obvious in a few hours. It was just different at first. And I had used like 4 versions of Longhorn before Vista became the new name.
Again I am not arguing but rather asking what you feel is better as I dont have it in my hands. But others I trust do and have all shrugged and said ..... Sheeshhhh what a waste. Its Vista sp2.
FACT: Windows 7 is indisputably faster than both Windows XP and Vista at desktop operations. Disk to disk file transfers, archiving, deletion, LAN transfers, and damn near any other productivity task is faster on Win7.
It's been benchmarked by numerous sites, and you can expect Icrontic to join that list very soon. Now that we can publish actual numbers thanks to public availability, I'll be happy to show everyone just how good Windows 7 really is.
Today we were at the Microsoft booth where we got to take a look at an Eee PC running a legitimate full copy of Windows 7. No tweaks, no bullshit... It was the real deal. I have a picture of it on my phone. The little netbook got a 2.0 Windows Experience Score, but it was silky smooth doing what I wanted it to do on the desktop. I got a slight hangup when I first manipulated the UI, but everything else about the experience was fabulously good.
SECOND FACT: Windows Vista does. Not. Run. On. Netbooks. It won't. You can't get a Netbook to do it. Windows 7, on the other hand, is svelte enough, intelligent enough and developed enough to perform this task. Seven is highly optimized in ways Vista could only dream up. It's easy to say "wow, netbooks, who cares?" but the truth of the matter is that they're a good litmus test. The Atom is a relatively weak CPU paired to a crappy chipset, and if this diminutive little gadget can run Windows 7 at speeds that fast desktops can run Vista, we're in for a great ride with 7.
Everyone here knows that I've been one of Vista's sharpest critics, but I am truly and genuinely excited about Windows 7. I can't wait to tell you guys about it.
Everyone here knows that I've been one of Vista's sharpest critics, but I am truly and genuinely excited about Windows 7. I can't wait to tell you guys about it.
Wow Thrax, that is one heck of an endorsement. I can't wait to read the review.
There is one thing that I've found in vista that I didn't find in xp. I've only ever had one blue screen in vista( I'm pretty sure I had one, cant remember for sure). But when it comes to overclocking and if I went beyond what my cpu or mem could handle, I'd get a blue screen in XP. In vista, I'd just get a funky popup but it allowed me to reboot and tweak settings without reaching for the PSU power switch. In you review, could there be a chance you would do some overclocking to the limmits of what you know is possible in XP or vista and test stability in Win7? I know there is a lot that goes into a review but I think it is valid concern for the enthusiast market.
running the windows 7 beta right now as we speak on parallels desktop on my imac, so far i can tell right away, it's running so much more smoother than vista did in parallels desktop. :thumbup to microsoft.
I just can't get Windows 7 to install fully. I've tried 3 times now. The problem seems to be related to my video card and resolution in some way. The screen seems to boot up in my native resolution of 1680x1050 but gets stuck on a black screen with the beta info on the bottom right. If I leave it long enough the PC will go to sleep and I can wake it by pressing a key or moving my mouse but it still hangs at the same screen.
If I boot in safe mode then I get the message on screen that its preparing the PC to boot for the first time and then an error that the installation cannot be completed in safe mode and it forces me to restart. Does anyone know if theres a way to force it to boot at a lower resolution to see if that resolves it for me?
Nevermind, I've worked it out. Pressing F8 gets you into the advanced boot options which gives you an option to boot at a lower resolution. It didn't help. All that happened was instead of hanging on the black screen my monitor would shut down.
I then realised that the problem might have something to do with my TV being connected as a second display. I unplugged the HDMI cable from the back of my TV, rebooted and sure enough it started up fine.
Comments
Curious as to how its far better then Vista? Everything I see says its Vista and not much more. How in a few hours can you tell its far better then Vista?
I am posting from a Vista box but the things I think are better about Vista over XP would never of been obvious in a few hours. It was just different at first. And I had used like 4 versions of Longhorn before Vista became the new name.
Again I am not arguing but rather asking what you feel is better as I dont have it in my hands. But others I trust do and have all shrugged and said ..... Sheeshhhh what a waste. Its Vista sp2.
So what is sooooooooooooooo special?
Tex
And Tex:
Windows 7 is supposed to be what Vista was originally supposed to be before they started stripping features from Vista to meet street date.
Me, I'm still downloading and wondering if I'll ever get a key... still don't know where I'll install it yet.
As to why I think it's far better then vista. It feels faster, I haven't benchmarked anything that's just that gut feeling. The UI feels more responsive and it certainly boots up faster. The primary reason though that I think it boots faster is that it doesn't have that big sidebar loading on the right which always seems to take for ever to load.
The task bar snaps and window snaps are nice, they don't change your life or anything but they feel like a step in the right direction. They are functional and just work.
On the more backend side of things. The installer is quick and does a more minimal install, again similar to 2008 server. It installs more of a core OS experience and you have the option to add more which I appreciate.
In windows 7 there isn't one specific thing that I feel makes it all better then Vista. But it's all the little things. Vista to me always feels like I'm fighting the OS or that the OS is trying to impress me with some big flashy show that I don't need. 7 on the other hand does what I want it to do and expect it to do. Like I said earlier it feels like a natural progression from XP. It feels like an improved OS. That's an experience I've never gotten from Vista.
Windows 7 isn't going to change your life. But when Windows 7 comes out retail I would recomend it to customers/employees who ask. I will also be ording new machines with windows 7 on them with no regrets.
Hope that clears some things up for you Tex.
I was going to install it on my desktop, but my laptop is suffering from Windows Rot so it might go on there instead.
Are you doing it in Firefox? Didn't work for me either until I opened it up in IE.
You still need to get your key from MS.
I also think a lot of people would have liked vista better than xp if they would have given it a fair chance. ANd I think this go around people will give it more of a chance. Is the whole world going to go mac?
Two undeniable truths about vista compared to xp are It feels clunky and it is slower. So far me, if it faster than vista but similar to it, I'm sure I'll like it.
It's been benchmarked by numerous sites, and you can expect Icrontic to join that list very soon. Now that we can publish actual numbers thanks to public availability, I'll be happy to show everyone just how good Windows 7 really is.
Today we were at the Microsoft booth where we got to take a look at an Eee PC running a legitimate full copy of Windows 7. No tweaks, no bullshit... It was the real deal. I have a picture of it on my phone. The little netbook got a 2.0 Windows Experience Score, but it was silky smooth doing what I wanted it to do on the desktop. I got a slight hangup when I first manipulated the UI, but everything else about the experience was fabulously good.
SECOND FACT: Windows Vista does. Not. Run. On. Netbooks. It won't. You can't get a Netbook to do it. Windows 7, on the other hand, is svelte enough, intelligent enough and developed enough to perform this task. Seven is highly optimized in ways Vista could only dream up. It's easy to say "wow, netbooks, who cares?" but the truth of the matter is that they're a good litmus test. The Atom is a relatively weak CPU paired to a crappy chipset, and if this diminutive little gadget can run Windows 7 at speeds that fast desktops can run Vista, we're in for a great ride with 7.
Everyone here knows that I've been one of Vista's sharpest critics, but I am truly and genuinely excited about Windows 7. I can't wait to tell you guys about it.
Wow Thrax, that is one heck of an endorsement. I can't wait to read the review.
There is one thing that I've found in vista that I didn't find in xp. I've only ever had one blue screen in vista( I'm pretty sure I had one, cant remember for sure). But when it comes to overclocking and if I went beyond what my cpu or mem could handle, I'd get a blue screen in XP. In vista, I'd just get a funky popup but it allowed me to reboot and tweak settings without reaching for the PSU power switch. In you review, could there be a chance you would do some overclocking to the limmits of what you know is possible in XP or vista and test stability in Win7? I know there is a lot that goes into a review but I think it is valid concern for the enthusiast market.
I just can't get Windows 7 to install fully. I've tried 3 times now. The problem seems to be related to my video card and resolution in some way. The screen seems to boot up in my native resolution of 1680x1050 but gets stuck on a black screen with the beta info on the bottom right. If I leave it long enough the PC will go to sleep and I can wake it by pressing a key or moving my mouse but it still hangs at the same screen.
If I boot in safe mode then I get the message on screen that its preparing the PC to boot for the first time and then an error that the installation cannot be completed in safe mode and it forces me to restart. Does anyone know if theres a way to force it to boot at a lower resolution to see if that resolves it for me?
TIA
I then realised that the problem might have something to do with my TV being connected as a second display. I unplugged the HDMI cable from the back of my TV, rebooted and sure enough it started up fine.