Hello from Windows 7 RC1 Build 7100 x64

[PurpleBuddha]

Maybe a failure, but even before Vista launched Mircosoft announced that they would not go seven or so years between operating systems any longer as they had with XP, that they would shoot for about three years with less dramatic changes. Seven was an exact follow through.

As to performance, XP is much slower on my machine, but that is not surprising. It is long outdated. Vista's biggest problem was two fold. First, it lost the PR battle very early on. Second, XP was around so long that people were going to despise anything that departed from it too much, which really helped lead to the first point.

Edit: As to dual boot, I have your situation, sort of reversed. I have a PC that I recently set to dual boot to OSX (ideneb). More for curiosity's sake. I have only used it a little so far, but it seems stable and snappy. I will report back later if you want about my opinion of the OS. For now, I think I like it.

Hm. Well good luck with the dual boot. OS X has a great number of advantages, one of which is speed and efficiency. Of course, it has it's drawbacks too, but I have been quite happy with it.

J.

I try to pride myself in being a person who likes or dislikes tech/software based on the merits, not some brand war. But my experience with OSX is limited so I am remedying it.

Here are some random rambling thoughts on the topic:

As to the whole Mac vs PC thing, I sometimes enjoy reading the flame wars on Engadget, but don't really see a need to only commit to one or the other. I really wish the day would come when at lest one PC maker rivals Apple when it comes to laptop design, with the hope that they would be cheaper.

However, Dell recently attempted this with the Adamo. While the laptop does look pretty good, it is a pile of shit spec wise that starts at 2k and goes up from there (we are talking something like a 1.4 ghz with 2gb of ram and integrated graphics). While that wouldn't be bad for a netbook, this is a 2k + system. It leads me to believe that the "Apple tax" is not purely arbitrary. At some point, high level aesthetic design really does cost more R&D. And I happen to know that even when Dell sells a 2k Adamo, they are not making bank on it. The Adamo has very, very little margin for the company making it a real bullet in their foot.

I often wish Apple would release their OS for general use allowing companies like HP and Dell to provide it as an option on their PCs. However, Apple would run into some issues they don't have now. Currently they have a pretty tight control over the hardware their OS needs to be able to work on and this makes it easier and less costly for them to make a stable OS. Still, it may be worth it for them to do this. I half think that several years ago (pre Ipod days) when Apple was in trouble and Microsoft gave them a large infusion of cash to help them remain viable, that there were some pretty long term conditions attached to it. One probably involved Apple keeping their OS in house. That is just idle speculation on my part, but given the popularity issues MS has been suffering from in the last several years, now would be the perfect time for Apple to bring HP and Dell to the table if they wanted to, and yet there are no signs that this is going to happen.

 

[msbae]

I often wish Apple would release their OS for general use allowing companies like HP and Dell to provide it as an option on their PCs. However, Apple would run into some issues they don't have now. Currently they have a pretty tight control over the hardware their OS needs to be able to work on and this makes it easier and less costly for them to make a stable OS. Still, it may be worth it for them to do this. I half think that several years ago (pre Ipod days) when Apple was in trouble and Microsoft gave them a large infusion of cash to help them remain viable, that there were some pretty long term conditions attached to it. One probably involved Apple keeping their OS in house. That is just idle speculation on my part, but given the popularity issues MS has been suffering from in the last several years, now would be the perfect time for Apple to bring HP and Dell to the table if they wanted to, and yet there are no signs that this is going to happen.

That's possible. However, I think Apple just doesn't have any interest in destroying their competitor at M$. If they did, they'd have to fill the void and become the ubiquitous OS provider. Once that happens, MacOS will start having similar issues to Windows, like being every hacker's favorite target. I doubt Steve Jobs would want that to happen to his company. He's happy being a boutique vendor.

 

[PurpleBuddha]

I don't think they would destroy MS. After ten years or so, they may be able to get close to an equal market share of MS (though that is probably overly optimistic), but Apple unbound hardware wise would soon stop being a novelty. From what I know now, neither product is obviously superior to the other, they are both simply different. One would have to be obviously superior to shut the other down.

 

[noknowes]

True for any 32bit OS, and the limit is actually 3GB, it will recognize up to 3GB. If you get XP x64 it will recognize and utilize well above 3GB. This is true for Vista and Win7, if you get the 32bit version you are limited, get the 64bit and you are not, so the OS really doesn't matter as far as that goes.

Unfortunately, since I use Boot Camp, I can only use a 32bit OS, but that's okay. My iMac only goes up to 2GB and on that 2GB it does a helluva lot.


J.

Can you install it on fat32 partitions? You were not allowed to install vista on fat32.

 

[Marc]

For those who don't have TechNet or MSDN the release candidate is now available to download.

 

[Brent]

The website is here - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

RC1 is officially out and free, for use until June 1st 2010, though it will incur bi-hourly shutdowns starting March 1st 2010, so really the effective date is March 1st 2010, which is still nearly a year of free use, and the retail RTM version will be out way before then anyway.

 

[TheGodBen]

Hello from yet another Windows 7 RC1 x64 PC.

My PC broke down the other day due to a HDD error so I decided not to reinstall Win7 Beta but wait until the RC came out. Being forced to use Vista again really made me miss the little things that I like about Win7, and I've never been a Vista hater. The RC seems good so far, some of the gadgets I use in Vista are now working after graphical issues in the beta, and the network now starts up right away after booting up the PC, in the beta it could take up to two minutes before I'd get net access.

And my biggest complaint has been solved; the control panel pinned to the taskbar now remembers that I like seeing all the options rather than grouping them behind menus. In XP and Vista it would remember, but in the beta I always had to choose to open the list every time I went in there.

This is shaping up to be a very good OS, and if it stays the way it is then this will probably be the first time I actually purchase an OS upgrade rather than waiting until I buy a new PC.

 

[Amaris]

Maybe a failure, but even before Vista launched Mircosoft announced that they would not go seven or so years between operating systems any longer as they had with XP, that they would shoot for about three years with less dramatic changes. Seven was an exact follow through.

True. I remember reading that, but how often can you take Microsoft at their word when it comes to release dates?

As to performance, XP is much slower on my machine, but that is not surprising. It is long outdated. Vista's biggest problem was two fold. First, it lost the PR battle very early on. Second, XP was around so long that people were going to despise anything that departed from it too much, which really helped lead to the first point.

Yep, and that's Microsoft's fault for taking so long to come out with an improved operating system. Some think they still haven't.

I try to pride myself in being a person who likes or dislikes tech/software based on the merits, not some brand war. But my experience with OSX is limited so I am remedying it.

Here are some random rambling thoughts on the topic:

As to the whole Mac vs PC thing, I sometimes enjoy reading the flame wars on Engadget, but don't really see a need to only commit to one or the other. I really wish the day would come when at lest one PC maker rivals Apple when it comes to laptop design, with the hope that they would be cheaper.

However, Dell recently attempted this with the Adamo. While the laptop does look pretty good, it is a pile of shit spec wise that starts at 2k and goes up from there (we are talking something like a 1.4 ghz with 2gb of ram and integrated graphics). While that wouldn't be bad for a netbook, this is a 2k + system. It leads me to believe that the "Apple tax" is not purely arbitrary. At some point, high level aesthetic design really does cost more R&D. And I happen to know that even when Dell sells a 2k Adamo, they are not making bank on it. The Adamo has very, very little margin for the company making it a real bullet in their foot.

I often wish Apple would release their OS for general use allowing companies like HP and Dell to provide it as an option on their PCs. However, Apple would run into some issues they don't have now. Currently they have a pretty tight control over the hardware their OS needs to be able to work on and this makes it easier and less costly for them to make a stable OS. Still, it may be worth it for them to do this. I half think that several years ago (pre Ipod days) when Apple was in trouble and Microsoft gave them a large infusion of cash to help them remain viable, that there were some pretty long term conditions attached to it. One probably involved Apple keeping their OS in house. That is just idle speculation on my part, but given the popularity issues MS has been suffering from in the last several years, now would be the perfect time for Apple to bring HP and Dell to the table if they wanted to, and yet there are no signs that this is going to happen.

Agreed on all counts.

Can you install it on fat32 partitions? You were not allowed to install vista on fat32.

NTFS only from what I've seen so far. I tried to do a fat32 install but it doesn't even give you the option.

Speaking of, I installed Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my iMac (I have XP as a Boot Camp partition and triple booting is a pain in the ass to setup if you already have everything laid out). It's rather sprightly, and looks okay. I can't do a complete and thorough examination as I'm running VM and that reduces performance and graphics capabilities somewhat. So far though it looks like Vista Redux in GUI, and runs smoother than Vista ever did.

J.

 

[Candlelight]

Is there a download link for a 32-bit OS for those of us that don't have or want a Live account?

EDIT: Never mind I found it.

Does anyone know if there are going to be generic keys like with the Beta release or will it have unique keys this time round?

 

[Candlelight]

Speaking of, I installed Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my iMac (I have XP as a Boot Camp partition and triple booting is a pain in the ass to setup if you already have everything laid out). It's rather sprightly, and looks okay. I can't do a complete and thorough examination as I'm running VM and that reduces performance and graphics capabilities somewhat. So far though it looks like Vista Redux in GUI, and runs smoother than Vista ever did.

I'm currently running Windows 7 Beta using VMWare and it's generally good but I've found the video performance was lacking. I played an Xvid copy of BSG's Resurrection Ship, Pt 2, and during the battle scene the audio went to hell in a handbag.

Hopefully RC1 is better.

 

[Amaris]

Speaking of, I installed Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my iMac (I have XP as a Boot Camp partition and triple booting is a pain in the ass to setup if you already have everything laid out). It's rather sprightly, and looks okay. I can't do a complete and thorough examination as I'm running VM and that reduces performance and graphics capabilities somewhat. So far though it looks like Vista Redux in GUI, and runs smoother than Vista ever did.

I'm currently running Windows 7 Beta using VMWare and it's generally good but I've found the video performance was lacking. I played an Xvid copy of BSG's Resurrection Ship, Pt 2, and during the battle scene the audio went to hell in a handbag.

Hopefully RC1 is better.

Yeah, same problem here. For me the audio lags about 4 seconds behind the video, and that's if it lets me play. I have the onboard X1600 Pro, but VirtualBox uses the video memory too and I can only use 64 MB. I'd love to test it out in Boot Camp but I am not going through pages and pages of programming just to test out Win7. I will say that I'm seeing lots of potential, and it looks good. I tried out the Vista beta a few years ago and at this point it was still a wreck. So they're really gaining ground with Win7, but I want to really flog it and see how it performs under heavy strain.

Is there a download link for a 32-bit OS for those of us that don't have or want a Live account?

EDIT: Never mind I found it.

Does anyone know if there are going to be generic keys like with the Beta release or will it have unique keys this time round?

From what I see, it generates a new key every time you download. I don't know if these are cross compatible, but I clicked the download button twice (by accident) and it gave me two different keys to use.

J.

 

[Jadzia]

I may have this wrong... I'm sure I read somewhere there was going to be a lite version of win7, that had significantly lower hardware requirements and costs, but permitted a maximum of 3 applications running at any one time. Intended for use on netbooks instead of linux.

 

[Candlelight]

^ Windows 7 Starter.

 

[Amaris]

I wiped my Windows partition on Boot Camp and installed Windows 7. Smooth install, no issues. Installed Boot Camp drivers on Win 7, smooth install, no issues. I've been running Win 7 on my iMac for a couple of hours now, and it's slick, fast, responsive and doesn't suck down my resources, and XP compatibility mode work seamlessly integrated. This being a beta, and remembering Vista's release beta, I am impressed with Windows 7.



J.

 

[Amaris]

Hm. Nothing after a whole day.
Well, an update: Windows 7 is still moving quickly, I haven't crashed once and that's after loading all of my favorite Windows programs. The Operating System makes good use of my system's resources, and I haven't had a lick of trouble yet. They could probably release this now as the OS and it would do very well. It's already head and shoulders above Vista. I'm rather enjoying myself using the OS. It's unobtrusive and quiet, does what you ask the first time, seems to use less memory, and the ease of use is excellent. I think Microsoft's got a winner here. If they actually improve upon this, I will be buying a copy when it comes out.

J.

 

[Marc]

Hm. Nothing after a whole day.
Well, an update: Windows 7 is still moving quickly, I haven't crashed once and that's after loading all of my favorite Windows programs. The Operating System makes good use of my system's resources, and I haven't had a lick of trouble yet. They could probably release this now as the OS and it would do very well. It's already head and shoulders above Vista. I'm rather enjoying myself using the OS. It's unobtrusive and quiet, does what you ask the first time, seems to use less memory, and the ease of use is excellent. I think Microsoft's got a winner here. If they actually improve upon this, I will be buying a copy when it comes out.

J.

They may update things when the first service pack comes out, but as it stands, Windows 7 is pretty much as you see it. The RC stands for release candidate which means all the features have been frozen, bugs ironed out and basically it's the version that Microsoft will go with.

If no major issues are found at this point they'll probably tidy up the code a bit then release the software to manufacture (i.e the production process for the media will begin)

 

[Amaris]

Hm. Nothing after a whole day.
Well, an update: Windows 7 is still moving quickly, I haven't crashed once and that's after loading all of my favorite Windows programs. The Operating System makes good use of my system's resources, and I haven't had a lick of trouble yet. They could probably release this now as the OS and it would do very well. It's already head and shoulders above Vista. I'm rather enjoying myself using the OS. It's unobtrusive and quiet, does what you ask the first time, seems to use less memory, and the ease of use is excellent. I think Microsoft's got a winner here. If they actually improve upon this, I will be buying a copy when it comes out.

J.

They may update things when the first service pack comes out, but as it stands, Windows 7 is pretty much as you see it. The RC stands for release candidate which means all the features have been frozen, bugs ironed out and basically it's the version that Microsoft will go with.

If no major issues are found at this point they'll probably tidy up the code a bit then release the software to manufacture (i.e the production process for the media will begin)

Well, I am impressed. It looks like this time around Microsoft is going to produce a solid entry into the OS market.

J.

 

[Marc]

Hm. Nothing after a whole day.
Well, an update: Windows 7 is still moving quickly, I haven't crashed once and that's after loading all of my favorite Windows programs. The Operating System makes good use of my system's resources, and I haven't had a lick of trouble yet. They could probably release this now as the OS and it would do very well. It's already head and shoulders above Vista. I'm rather enjoying myself using the OS. It's unobtrusive and quiet, does what you ask the first time, seems to use less memory, and the ease of use is excellent. I think Microsoft's got a winner here. If they actually improve upon this, I will be buying a copy when it comes out.

J.

They may update things when the first service pack comes out, but as it stands, Windows 7 is pretty much as you see it. The RC stands for release candidate which means all the features have been frozen, bugs ironed out and basically it's the version that Microsoft will go with.

If no major issues are found at this point they'll probably tidy up the code a bit then release the software to manufacture (i.e the production process for the media will begin)

Well, I am impressed. It looks like this time around Microsoft is going to produce a solid entry into the OS market.

J.

Definitely though some of the reviews where they've benchmarked have found that performance increases are minimal over Vista in the real world but if the user finds it fast enough (which most will) then that's not going to matter to much.

The reviewer at www.anandtech.com made the comment that with Windows 7, Microsoft is it's own worst enemy. After 5 years and 3 service packs, XP has entrenched it's self as fast, reliable O/S and Vista has to try and shake that aside

 

[Amaris]

They may update things when the first service pack comes out, but as it stands, Windows 7 is pretty much as you see it. The RC stands for release candidate which means all the features have been frozen, bugs ironed out and basically it's the version that Microsoft will go with.

If no major issues are found at this point they'll probably tidy up the code a bit then release the software to manufacture (i.e the production process for the media will begin)

Well, I am impressed. It looks like this time around Microsoft is going to produce a solid entry into the OS market.

J.

Definitely though some of the reviews where they've benchmarked have found that performance increases are minimal over Vista in the real world but if the user finds it fast enough (which most will) then that's not going to matter to much.

The reviewer at www.anandtech.com made the comment that with Windows 7, Microsoft is it's own worst enemy. After 5 years and 3 service packs, XP has entrenched it's self as fast, reliable O/S and Vista has to try and shake that aside

True. Many people will be ready to switch, I think. Windows 7 has the sleek interface of Vista (with some nice little touches) but the stability of XP, at least for what I've seen, and I have done everything to this system, driving it to it's limit to see how it handles. Not a single bug, crash or error to report.

J.

 

[romulus]

I'm finally on Windows 7 too.

Had to make room on my system partition of XP but it was worth it. So far I'm loving it, PC running like new again. I was not be able to find drivers for some of my hardware but Windows XP drivers seem to be working fine, so far, I just had to manually install them because 7 refused to install unsigned drivers on its own . Haven't tried to game yet, heard some people say some games where slower on Vista and I want to see if that's true for windows 7 too.