Has anyone tested the Windows 7 beta?

This MIGHT be a stupid question but…
Where is the windows 7 beta available?
If I can find it then maybe I will.

Yes, and it’s great. Partition your drive and put it on the new partition for a dual boot.

It’s amazing for a beta, runs incredibly smooth and very stable. I can’t wait for the release at the end of this year/beggining of next.

@Theotherkid It’s available at Microsoft’s website :)

I am running it on my iMac with Parellels. It is very nice. Speedy and works great for a beta. It looks like they fixed everything that was wrong with Vista. It will be a really good OS.

I can’t justify running a beta, but I can’t wait for the release either! It will sure be nice to have a route up from XP that doesn’t involve Vista.

@Grisson

I’m a total Mac fanatic that usually hates everything Microsoft does. Even I am really impressed with Windows 7. They finally made a OS that is as good as the keyboards and mice that they make.

I got a MacBook Pro a few months ago; it’s my main computer now. I decided to get a Mac after using them for years in college.

After reading about Windows 7, I think it might be interesting revitalizing the old desktop with a shiny new OS. Currently my PC runs Windows XP.

…Is it supposed to take forever at the download page?

Mircrosoft had some problems with server capacity when they released it. It should be solved now though.

Get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

I installed it on Virtual PC, but it crashed after I installed the VM Tools. Googling the problems it turns out that I’m not the only one having those problems, so be careful. Making a dualboot as previously suggested is the best idea.

@Theotherkid :: I used the links on this page to download it. It maxed my connection. It still took 2.5 hours.

And I used a serial from here.

If one already had Windows Vista, will the uprgrad be for free?

How does that work…?

No, the upgrade will not be free. Microsoft is not in the habit of giving their premier products away :-)

Thanks JohnPowell… Working fine now!

@Jbor Sounds reasonable/understandable. Just didn’t know how that worked, exactly….

What happens when they actually release it then….? Will all of you currently using the beta version for free no longer have that ability, I presume…?

@Snoopy Yes, the beta will most likely cease to function properly.

Function ends August ‘09. That’s why I recommend dual booting rather than upgrading. If you do not have a vista dvd (like I do) you will be left with a useless computer. Also, seeing as it is a beta, there are probably many bugs and glitches remaining, making for a bad choice as primary OS. After all, the point of a beta is to find these bugs and glitches.

@Eambos & Jbor Thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, historically, how much does a new OS cost?

I realize that it might be totally different this time around…..

(Keep in mind, I upgraded to a laptop w/ Vista from desktop w/ Windows 98 as Microsoft said they would no longer support it…jerks!
LOL)

Bestbuy has the Vista Home Premium upgrade for 130$:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8758141&st=vista&type=product&id=1202650191714

No one knows what the price of Windows 7 will be, but since it is a relatively minor upgrade (it’s heavily based on Vista), and MS has been widely criticized for the price of Vista, we can hope it will be cheaper. On the other hand a lot of people who passed over Vista will be compelled to upgrade…

I installed it on Friday…

It works well, for what it does. It runs a lot smoother than vista. In my opinion, however, the glitzy eye candy strategy (pioneered in vista, expanded in W7) irks me to the core. Microsoft replaced (near solid) functionality with high-sheen glitz as a crutch for their age-old windowing paradigm.

The dock-like taskbar is worse for identifying running programs than people thought the Leopard dock was (which admittedly is not all that bad). Overly subtle boxes around apps =/= functional status indicators.

The gadget performance is sub-par, as well.

Granted I haven’t played with it a great deal…

My take is that as an upgrade to vista, it is top-notch. On the same hardware, however, your experiences will be better served by XP

One could find better in other OSs than in W7: including in the Windows family itself…

How do I install it in parallels? I keep getting a blue screen of death kind of error.

Just do a dual boot; It’s more stable, uses less resources and runs faster.

@Theotherkid:

I had to do a custom install. I was also having it hang.

I selected “Windows Other” when it asked what OS I was installing. And make sure you set your RAM for it over 512 megs.

If you still have problems let me know via PM. I could whip up a tutorial with screenshots.