There might be a Windows 7 thread already, but that one is for idiots, apparently. This 3Gb download is that important, it needs its own post.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

Its important because it means you do not need to pay for an OS for the next 10 months (on March 1st it becomes crippled somewhat). A 'release candidate' is the final test version prior to printing real DVDs and putting them in boxes on shelves.

If you are building a PC, you do not need to purchase an OEM or retail version of Vista until later. Its a godsend for people who have a branded computer, say 5 years old, and their manufacturer no longer supplies recovery disks. It makes selling old computers without an OS a (almost) worthwhile proposition.

It could still be important for Vista users, as they will be able to decide whether its worth the upgrade costs come (rumoured) 23rd October.

I downloaded at work on the fast connection to try on the lappy, force of habit made me get the 64 bit version. Now I've got home and got to wait 2 hours to get the 32 bit one cos only my desktop is 64 bit. Oops. :hihi:

I should perhaps have mentioned that a clean hard drive is required. May put a few off understandably. I'm not sure if there is any bona fide foolproof free partioning software out there? I'm a bit out of date there, as I still subscribe to the 'partitioning of large hard drives makes things easier down the road theory', and not the 'leave it as one fat drive else you mess with the OS's ability to place common apps on the fast bit of the platter' stance.

An FAQ page here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/faq.aspx

im running it now seems quite good, installed all the drivers for my components automaticly with the exception of my soundblaster xfi card. but it did point me to the exact website to get the windows 7 drivers for it.
and no you dont need a clean hard drive,
im running it on my D: drive that has all my music and my WOW intalation on it without a problem.
I just made sure to defragment the drive before instaling.

thanks for letting us know

People should realise this is a Release Candidate....it is NOT the final version of the OS.

Zzzzap! I now have fuzzy hair split ends! :gag:

;P

Well at least it can't be as bad as Vista............(can it?).

I'll give it a miss ta :)

I'd have given it a look if I didn't have to register to get it... I tend to avoid spyware!

Got it running, seems nice so far but I can't use it properly as my WiFi card isn't supported.
If anyone knows of a Vista/W7 driver for an IPN2220 Wireless LAN Card I'd be grateful. :)

Inprocomm went bust a few years ago I think.

I think I'll wait for the final release if it's all the same to you.

I hate Beta version software, it has a nasty habit of buggering me PC up.

As much as I hate Vista I think I will stick with it, better the devil you know. I do hope the new OS is more stable than my two years of hell with Vista!

I have had it installed for about 2 weeks (release candidate 7100) and its very very good.....I was a beta tester for the earlier versions too so got this before the public did...

Awesome OS.....even though its not 100% completed, its as close as it can possibly be....I cant find any faults with it at all, and its so good at installing hardware all by itself without any driver disks I just cant believe it.....Never going back to XP, where on one machine, I had to use 7 different device driver disks to get it working properly as XP had not a clue what the hardware was....Win 7 seems to know most hardware, even old stuff too.....it was more than happy with an ancient 9 year old scanner, whereas XP thought it was a washing machine and refused to have anything to do with it....

As much as I hate Vista I think I will stick with it, better the devil you know. I do hope the new OS is more stable than my two years of hell with Vista!

Well it took past SP1 for Vista to be as stable as 7 is before it's even been released :)

People should realise this is a Release Candidate....it is NOT the final version of the OS.

And they should certainly not trust it if they value their data or are running mission critical apps!

Its important because it means you do not need to pay for an OS for the next 10 months ...

No-one has to pay for an OS. Only for Windows ;)

I might see if the missus wants to try it out on her PC, I'd like to play with it to see if it as great as I seem to be hearing but I'm not blatting my machine now I've got it just-so!

I should perhaps have mentioned that a clean hard drive is required. May put a few off understandably. I'm not sure if there is any bona fide foolproof free partioning software out there? I'm a bit out of date there, as I still subscribe to the 'partitioning of large hard drives makes things easier down the road theory', and not the 'leave it as one fat drive else you mess with the OS's ability to place common apps on the fast bit of the platter' stance.

An FAQ page here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/faq.aspx

That's what VMware is for :thumbsup:

.
WOW 3.5 gig for 64 bit!

I'd have given it a look if I didn't have to register to get it... I tend to avoid spyware!
you dont have to register to get it....
Anyway, for those that want to try windoze 7 without having to sign up for Hotmail, messenger, passports or windoze live etc, whatever all that crap is, here are the direct links to both the 32bit and 64bit versions:


64 bit version:
http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/e/b/5/eb58e76e-17fa-409b-855f-11fbe84d1c93/7100.0.090421-1700_x64fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culxfrer_en_dvd.iso

32 bit version:
http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/4/0/c/40c1e714-7910-4b38-9b5e-67fa522e6a44/7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culfrer_en_dvd.iso


Forgot to say: Just copy and paste into your browser's address bar and go from there. If you just click on the link it will only take you to the microshaft download page.

Both those links give a 'file not found' error

Seems to work for me, i'll dl it later... Cheers!

I put it on a Samsung NC10 this morning. It runs quite fast, considering it only scored 2.1 on the performance scale - not very good considering this is the latest technology.

My biggest gripe is that it's going to cause lots of problems for system administrators and tech staff.

Take the fancy interface and the Start menu for example. Lets say you want to revert to good old Windows Classic. On most recent Windows operating systems it's nothing more than right clicking the Start Menu, left-clicking "properties" and selecting Windows Classic.

That option has now gone. You can get it looking like Windows Classic by hacking the registry.

Go to the sound settings and see the ridiculous sound schemes. Somebody spent time, effort and a shedload of money creating schemes called "garden", "afternoon", "Heritage", "Caligraphy". Why?

I don't want to have to spend time searching why I can't remove the date from the system tray, or figure out why they've moved the "show desktop" to the right of the clock rather than next to the start button, where it's been for many many years.

Yes, improve the OS and it's stability. Yes, give fancy bells and whistles to the slack jawed who like fancy and flashy animations and Linuxy looks. But don't start changing things to a point where they become unworkable or require you to just suddenly forget years of tips and tricks and using Windows and start learning again from scratch.

They said that the most popular add-on / app / hack for Office 2007 is something that makes it look and feel like Office 2003.

If Windows 7 and Vista were a car, Microsoft would have removed the steering wheel, pedals and gearstick and replaced it with an xbox joypad because "they" feel it's better.

They work if you click them, but only to the microsoft d/load page, not the actual ISO file. If you copy and paste them as instructed, it gives an error.

I put it on a Samsung NC10 this morning. It runs quite fast, considering it only scored 2.1 on the performance scale - not very good considering this is the latest technology.

My biggest gripe is that it's going to cause lots of problems for system administrators and tech staff.

Take the fancy interface and the Start menu for example. Lets say you want to revert to good old Windows Classic. On most recent Windows operating systems it's nothing more than right clicking the Start Menu, left-clicking "properties" and selecting Windows Classic.

That option has now gone. You can get it looking like Windows Classic by hacking the registry.

Go to the sound settings and see the ridiculous sound schemes. Somebody spent time, effort and a shedload of money creating schemes called "garden", "afternoon", "Heritage", "Caligraphy". Why?

I don't want to have to spend time searching why I can't remove the date from the system tray, or figure out why they've moved the "show desktop" to the right of the clock rather than next to the start button, where it's been for many many years.

Yes, improve the OS and it's stability. Yes, give fancy bells and whistles to the slack jawed who like fancy and flashy animations and Linuxy looks. But don't start changing things to a point where they become unworkable or require you to just suddenly forget years of tips and tricks and using Windows and start learning again from scratch.

They said that the most popular add-on / app / hack for Office 2007 is something that makes it look and feel like Office 2003.

If Windows 7 and Vista were a car, Microsoft would have removed the steering wheel, pedals and gearstick and replaced it with an xbox joypad because "they" feel it's better.

Buzz . . .

This one works ok for me (32 bit):

http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/4/0/c/40c1e714-7910-4b38-9b5e-67fa522e6a44/7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culfrer_en_dvd.iso

and the 64 bit:
http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/e/b/5/eb58e76e-17fa-409b-855f-11fbe84d1c93/7100.0.090421-1700_x64fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culxfrer_en_dvd.iso


Copy and paste the code into your browser. You will need to register though for a product key, and it needs activating online.

I got it through MS's d/load service anyway, just used my xbox live ID to register it. Dont know when Ill get around to trying it, I only did a clean Vista install yesterday

I'd have given it a look if I didn't have to register to get it... I tend to avoid spyware! you dont have to register to get it....
You have to register for Windows live. I forgot about that, as I'd gone through that pain a few months ago to get a game to work online, so already have a login for it. Iirc there were quite a few text panels assuring you that they were going to try not to abuse your data too badly.
That's what VMware is for :thumbsup:
I've never tried it. Not really needed to use more than one OS at a time before :)

Got it running, seems nice so far but I can't use it properly as my WiFi card isn't supported.I had thought that Vista drivers were supposed to be ok? (not being a Vista user, I dont know much about this, though)
I'd like to play with it to see if it as great as I seem to be hearing but I'm not blatting my machine now I've got it just-so!

I have to admit I gave up yesterday quite soon after installing it.
I rallied myself tonight, and persevered until I have it now looking completely like Windows 2000 again :love:

you could use "bit torrent" and down load it that way.

You need the registration process to give you a key ;)

All seems rather positive so far, I might load it on a Virtual PC. Does anyone know how it will run with just 512MB (that's all I can allocate as my PC only has 1GB ram).

I had thought that Vista drivers were supposed to be ok? (not being a Vista user, I dont know much about this, though)

Vista drivers indeed work, but my WiFi card was discontinued before Vista so there are none for that either. I found an old Belkin USB WiFi dongle and got that working with Vista drivers. It's not ideal cos it sticks out of the side of the lappy by about 6 inches but at least I can connect to the net.

Still didn't solve my woes as the onboard graphics are Radeon 9000 IGP, also not supported. Managed to hack in an old driver, it works but without Aero or the ATI control panel.

All seems rather positive so far, I might load it on a Virtual PC. Does anyone know how it will run with just 512MB (that's all I can allocate as my PC only has 1GB ram).

Should be ok on 512MB, I'm running it on 768MB minus whatever the GPU shares (128MB I think), and it's nice and fast.
Virtualised it depends on the host system I think though, I installed it to Virtual PC on my desktop and it's SLOOOOOW, but I've only got an old Socket 939 Athlon X2 3800 with 2GB.

All seems rather positive so far, I might load it on a Virtual PC. Does anyone know how it will run with just 512MB (that's all I can allocate as my PC only has 1GB ram).
I put it on a Virtual PC and only gave it 768MB and it worked ok so I'd guess it would be ok with 512.

We put in on a Net Book at work and it performed admirably. We even got the Aero effects and 3D Alt-Tab thing.

Very impressed!

Windows 7. Evaluation Copy. Build 7100

Got it running in VMware, using 24 gig of hard drive space for the 64 bit version.

Took a bit of fiddling with to get the internet router recognised, maybe because I've not seen the settings before, due to never using Vista - apart from deleting it on my new PC.

Quite smooth otherwise, so far so good.

Just one question, how long before this version expires and locks me out, like a previous Beta version did, earlier this year?

.

March 1st 2010 = 2hrs max.
June 1st 2010 = the end.

They work if you click them, but only to the microsoft d/load page, not the actual ISO file. If you copy and paste them as instructed, it gives an error.
the links work fine. did you not read the instructions? don't just click them it said.
are you copying link location?

the links work fine. did you not read the instructions? don't just click them it said.
are you copying link location?

Yes, I read the instructions. Did you read my post? If you did, youd realise that I didnt say they didnt work, I said they didnt take you to a direct download, and you still had to register to get the key to install it.
As it happens, Im using it now. Vista, with some stuff moved around. First thing I did was got rid of that new taskbar, changed it back to the old vista/xp style quicklaunch bar. Now the screensaver isnt working, but thats apparently down to my (microsoft branded) wireless mouse, and can be fixed with a driver update. Other than that, it doesnt seem that bad.

The thing I seem to be noticing is that everyone, as soon as they install this new operating system is spending time on reverting it back to previous versions, because they actually preferred it... very strange indeed. Do you feel that you wasted your time upgrading, just to be trendy or are just ashamed that you use windows anyway?

il be giving it a go :) i ran the first release for a month untill i got a new computer and couldn't download it again but i thought it was much better than vista

The thing I seem to be noticing is that everyone, as soon as they install this new operating system is spending time on reverting it back to previous versions, because they actually preferred it... very strange indeed. Do you feel that you wasted your time upgrading, just to be trendy or are just ashamed that you use windows anyway?

I'm liking most of Aero, but have changed large parts (but not all) of the layout to a more traditional windows feel. I didnt feel trendy enough to buy Vista. But I might have been missing out, as W7 does lots of things nicer than XP did.

Ashamed to be using Windows? I've tried going over to Linux twice in the last 6 years, but struggled tbh, and came back. Mainly it was just the games. It wasnt so much the struggling with the shell, getting your head round the folder structure, software installation, and trouble shooting, and...

No - who am I kidding? It was because Linux is such a hartless steep lurning cuve of a bitch. W7 takes two evenings to set up, and requires no more windows knowledge than you had 10 years ago to understand.

No - who am I kidding? It was because Linux is such a hartless steep lurning cuve of a bitch. W7 takes two evenings to set up, and requires no more windows knowledge than you had 10 years ago to understand.

Hence why so many mindless idiots can write cracking software...

Are you serious that it takes two evenings to set up! Surely an OS can't take more than an hour to install (including most apps) and then maybe another to tweak it (less if you have scripts).


BTW the 'Ashamed' bit was just baitin...

I installed the 64 bit version, works like a charm although I need to spend some time working out where all the tweaks are. The main thing for me is Windows 7 doesn't use Outlook Express so you have to use Windows Live Mail. In Outlook Express, you could change the location of your email store folder. Windows Live Mail won't let you do that if where you're pointing it to has got stuff in it. I like to keep all my emails and it looks like I can't anymore.
It's early days and I could be wrong but it looks like a case of Microsoft flushing the baby away with the bathwater....again.

well not bad, 32 bit version started downloading just after that post, 1 hour 20 minutes later it was done :) and its 2.4GB lol il give a review when i finally install it later :)

Are you serious that it takes two evenings to set up!

You can get all your codecs sorted first time perfect, all your steam games reinstalled (new configs to copy/set up) - even using the same folder, so not data to actually download, choose a new mail client and work out how to transfer your incompatible messages over... all in 1 hour?

Then there was my encryption key headache (I lied about the 10 years prior Windows knowledge :D - you think you know it, but...), and just the shear amount of data backup to be done and files to sort out... because I was lazy, prior. But surely I'm not the only one who spring cleans at these times?

Then all the little apps to sort, browser to sort (after spending time testing IE8 before rejecting it). Yeah, I hate reinstalling the OS of my main machine.

well upto now working spot on :)

Any one wants it on CD/DVD give me a PM its the 32bit version, means you wont need to download it, just get your Key

On this disc, already converted from ISO to auto run :)

Yes, I read the instructions. Did you read my post? If you did, youd realise that I didnt say they didnt work, I said they didnt take you to a direct download, and you still had to register to get the key to install it.


hrrrrmm well if you had read and UNDERSTOOD the instructions you would have found that they ARE direct links to the ISO files. Also there are other ways to get a key. but i cant mention them on this site.

I installed the 64 bit version, works like a charm although I need to spend some time working out where all the tweaks are. The main thing for me is Windows 7 doesn't use Outlook Express so you have to use Windows Live Mail. In Outlook Express, you could change the location of your email store folder. Windows Live Mail won't let you do that if where you're pointing it to has got stuff in it. I like to keep all my emails and it looks like I can't anymore.
It's early days and I could be wrong but it looks like a case of Microsoft flushing the baby away with the bathwater....again.

Try using Thunderbird instead of Live Mail, very much like Express. :thumbsup:


.

I've just set up Windows7 on a separate partition and dual booted with XP. I have a home network on an XP workgroup with 3 other PC's and a laptop. I can successfully get W7 to join this workgroup but I cannot find a way to browse shared folders. Am I missing something :confused:

Try using Thunderbird instead of Live Mail, very much like Express. :thumbsup:


.
Cheers for that! I've spent a bit longer with it now and found that you can in fact import your old OE folders into Live Mail and have them sitting on the left of the screen in an imported folder. I may yet give Thunderbird a crack though. I'm liking Windows 7 so far!

installed it over the weekend and its exellent no problems so far installed some games and programs and running faster than on vista better fps - loading times.

OOOPS !!!

The first documented bug in the Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100) is a beauty.

Yesterday, Microsoft published Knowledge Base article 970789, which provides details of a problem that affects the 32-bit (x86) English-language version of Windows 7 build 7100. The problem, in short, is that the installer incorrectly sets access control lists (ACLs) on the root of the system drive. The longer version is described as follows:

In the English version of Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100) 32-bit Ultimate, the folder that is created as the root folder of the system drive (%SystemDrive%) is missing entries in its security descriptor. One effect of this problem is that standard users such as non-administrators cannot perform all operations to subfolders that are created directly under the root. Therefore, applications that reference folders under the root may not install successfully or may not uninstall successfully. Additionally, operations or applications that reference these folders may fail.

For example, if a folder is created under the root of the system drive from an elevated command prompt, this folder will not correctly inherit permissions from the root of the drive. Therefore, some specific operations, such as deleting the folder, will fail when they are performed from a non-elevated command prompt. Additionally, the following error message appears when the operation fails:

"Access is denied."

Furthermore, the missing security descriptor entries protect non-admin file operations directly under the root.

A hotfix is available as an important update that should be delivered and installed automatically by Windows Update, assuming you have set up automatic updates. On one test system that I checked just now, the update had already been installed overnight. On two other systems, the update had been downloaded but was awaiting installation.

The hotfix package fixes the security descriptor of the root of the system drive, but it does not repair applications that are already installed, nor does it affect the permissions of folders that were created after the installation.

If you installed the x64 version of Windows 7, you are apparently unaffected by this issue.

If you haven’t yet installed the Windows 7 RC, it’s important to install this hotfix after you set up Windows and before you install any programs or restore any backed-up data.

This sounds like a pretty serious bug, and I’m surprised that it slipped through into the release candidate. I haven’t observed any deleterious effects from this issue yet but am keeping a sceptical eye on the matter... :thumbsup:

mmm that sounds quite fun-da-mental and hard to miss

you can remove the version number and annoying txt that shows in the bottom right hand corner too....use this link and it works fine.....

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-windows-7-rc-watermark-build-info-from-desktop/

you can remove the version number and annoying txt that shows in the bottom right hand corner too....use this link and it works fine.....

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-windows-7-rc-watermark-build-info-from-desktop/
I just ran this thing and it did precisely jack on my machine : (

Once I saw it was a third party keygen type app I decided against it. If it would have been a simple reg hack I would have removed it.

Installed the RC 64bit build 7100 and after spending nearlly 5 years with XP Professional & dipped in and out with Vista. It runs pretty well with my system (Quad Core AMD 9950, 8800GTX & 3GB Ram) and its a nice change coming from XP. Just a shame it expires March 1st 2010 :(.

Once I saw it was a third party keygen type app I decided against it. If it would have been a simple reg hack I would have removed it.

Agreed. Site looked a bit dodgy for me too.

I downloaded at work on the fast connection to try on the lappy, force of habit made me get the 64 bit version. Now I've got home and got to wait 2 hours to get the 32 bit one cos only my desktop is 64 bit. Oops. :hihi:

The 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 RC are available in five languages: English, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish. Just choose the version that fits the system you'll be using, pick your language, and click go to register for and download the RC.

Downloading the Windows 7 RC could take a few hours. The exact time will depend on your internet provider, bandwidth, and traffic. The good news is that once you start the download, you won't have to answer any more questions – you can walk away while it finishes. If it gets interrupted, it'll restart where it left off. See this FAQ for details.


Taken from their site

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

Download 32-bit version
Select language English German Japanese Spanish French
Download 64-bit version
Select language English German Japanese Spanish French IT pro? Go here to get your download and the resources you need.
32-bit, 64-bit? Once relatively rare, today’s more powerful PCs often use 64-bit versions of Windows. If you’re not sure what to download, just match the version you’re currently running. Here's how to check.

Thanks for that scubatony61, I know how to download it though, just made a daft mistake. :)

I have a PC with 1GB of ram (the recommended minimum) and just installed Windows 7 on a seperate partition to Win XP.

ALL of my devices just worked. When a driver was needed it downloaded and installed. Installation went without a hitch, have installed SQL Server and Visual Studio 2010 beta and it runs MUCH faster than XP. Already I'm spending more time with Windows 7 than XP. Personally so far I think its excellent.

I have been giving W7 a heavy workout for the last week using it as my main OS. On the whole the general rule i've found is: if it runs on Vista, it will run on Windows 7.

There are a few exceptions though, especially with games. The fault may lie with W7 or it may lie with Nvidia's pre-release drivers, but there were quite a few random system crashes.

I think I'll wait for a few more updates and hope that Microsoft and/or Nvidia make things a little more stable before i give it another try.

Windows update has a lot of issues in windows 7...I get error codes all the time and there is no known solution to this issue as yet....Vista had the same problem with some of its updates too but the fixes for that do not work on windows 7...

I have a PC with 1GB of ram (the recommended minimum) and just installed Windows 7 on a seperate partition to Win XP.

ALL of my devices just worked. When a driver was needed it downloaded and installed. Installation went without a hitch, have installed SQL Server and Visual Studio 2010 beta and it runs MUCH faster than XP. Already I'm spending more time with Windows 7 than XP. Personally so far I think its excellent.

It is good aside from one or 2 recently discovered bugs that need to be looked at, windows update is causing a lot of headaches for people and no cure found for this yet.......

Just worked out my PC can handle the 64 bit version and I installed the 32 bit....think I will do a fresh install with the 64 bit version today.....