Thread: Windows 7 Public Beta Download

Yep thats right peepz, for anyone who is interested, Windows 7 is now in Beta Release for Public Download. See my Latest Blog Post for more info.

MS really bungled this one. First the site was up, then it was down, then it was up, then they put out press release that they couldn't keep up with demand they were shocked that Win 7's beta was in such high demand. The guys over on Life Hacker got their panties in a wad. :slaugh:

If you back up a bit, Microsoft created the demand by saying they would limit beta keys to only 2.5m, which sounds like a whole lot but really it isn't when you consider all the geeks, like Moi, that want to get their mitts on it.

MS created a gold rush then pissed, moaned, and flopped big time when their servers got inundated with traffic. As they say in over at DP -- WTF? :twisted:

In between the whole rush I got a fresh download of 64 bit Win 7 Beta. I'm running it on my desktop -- dual boot the installer detects Vista and gives you a boot menu. I have it installed by still don't have a license key although it looks like I was one of the lucky ones was that actually able to confirm my email address. However, I found the download link on Life Hacker after MS's site bit the big one. MS actually continually killed downloaded links.

I'm typing this in IE 8 Beta 2 on Win 7 Beta 1. All in all it's not much different than Vista, it feels a lot smoother and polished. Over the weekend I'm going to try and get my mitts on a 32 bit version and run that on my machine so I can compare apples to apples as my Vista install is 32 bit. For now Vista will be my default OS. I'm not to comfortable with running a beta OS full time with all the people's personal data I deal with on daily basis.

Anyone else get the beta and install it? What are you thinking about it?

I managed to get a someone with a TecNet membership to sort me out, but downloaded 64bit version by accident lol. now downloading x86 - will let you know how it goes.

I learned never to download a Microsoft Beta version of anything. They screw everything up and try to sort it all out later.

@dan, you are smart to do a dual boot to prevent major problems.

I had found a copy of win7 a few weeks back and messed with it on my lenovo t60 and wasn't impressed.
It's fun to play around, and I know it was an early beta, but it was slow and mildly more "pretty" then vista.

ubuntu on that same laptop blows win7 to the hills


aww.. I was going to check out the updated beta but it's down already

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.

Originally Posted by loco

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.

lol yeah they couldn't see that coming. I tell ya a company with billions of dollars behind it cannot even get an ISO distributed. WTF? :sshocked: When Ubuntu does a release there's thousands of downloads per second, the site slows to a crawl but doesn't crash and burn like MS's did earlier today.

Makes you wonder...maybe they should be running Linux servers over in Redmond? :slaugh:

Got it last night and testing it on VM.
So far it is exactly what ppl say about it>>AMAZING:scool:

awesome, Im going to have to get my hands on it later today.
A friend did send me the link last night but then it went down ^^

I have seen screenshots, it looks good.

Ill tell you what i think.
Sean

Not sure If I am aloud to do this so if not please accept my sincere appologies and punnish accordingly, but for those who are having trouble, here is a direct download link that works.

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...FRE_EN_DVD.ISO

Originally Posted by CompuSupport

Not sure If I am aloud to do this so if not please accept my sincere appologies and punnish accordingly, but for those who are having trouble, here is a direct download link that works.

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...FRE_EN_DVD.ISO

It seems to have already been disabled.

Originally Posted by allout

It seems to have already been disabled.

Works when I click on it

Originally Posted by CompuSupport

Works when I click on it

This is what I get:

This webpage is not available.

The webpage at http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...FRE_EN_DVD.ISO might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

I installed 32bit, 7 on my free partitioned additional harddrive.

I like it, nothing really much to say!, nothing negative about it.

Running: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+, Biostar MCP6P-M2 GeForce 6150, 2x 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz, 512MB PCIx16 Gforce Graphics Card, and a 2(250GB) Sata Seagate Harddrives. Runs smooth, as all get out!, especially with Dual-Core, Would run even better with 64bit Windows7. I just hate 64 bit, not enough software support.

it's really slow on my thinkpad t60, I'm going back to ubuntu

btw. found a few more links for you all

32 bit: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...FRE_EN_DVD.iso

64 bit: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...FRE_EN_DVD.ISO

and her is a link to get a valid key
How-To receive a valid Windows 7 key | Helmers Blog
I'm not sure if they are trials, but at least you can play with it

I might load it up on my spare HD for my pc.. it's a bit beefier, but I wasn't impressed.
It seems just like a slower vista
I posted a picture on facebook, if you all are part of that
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php...9411250&ref=mf

Update from Lifehacker: Windows 7: Microsoft Extends Windows 7 Beta Availability Until January 24th

Basically the 2.5mill cap is gone you will be able to get keys and download it freely until 01/24.

I can confirm I just got license keys for both 64 and 32 bit under seperate passport IDs of course

Be advised you have to use IE to download the ISOs, they're using some sort of ActiveX control for the download.

I will wait for the final version, maybe in next 1-2 years

So, I've been working with Windows 7 on and off so far it's been really nice. It seems like what Vista should have been. I've crashed explorer twice just doing normal things but was able to restart it via the task manger, no big deal considering it's a Beta release.

So far things the only thing I don't really care for is the new task bar. It is a lot nicer, I like it for the most part but I think it takes too long to show previews. I also think it should delineate between running and non-running programs. Normally it's not a big deal, as if I click on a program icon I want to use the program anyway but mixing running and non running programs is just confusing. I really like that task bar items can be moved though. That's nice.

One of the nicer things I've noticed is that Wordpad can read and write .docx (Word 2007) files. I really hope that stays in when they release it. That's a nice little feature. I'm not sure if it read advanced word files with special formatting and all that but basic text files is no problem.

What's everyone else's likes/dislikes of W7?

Originally Posted by Big Dan

So, I've been working with Windows 7 on and off so far it's been really nice. It seems like what Vista should have been. I've crashed explorer twice just doing normal things but was able to restart it via the task manger, no big deal considering it's a Beta release.

So far things the only thing I don't really care for is the new task bar. It is a lot nicer, I like it for the most part but I think it takes too long to show previews. I also think it should delineate between running and non-running programs. Normally it's not a big deal, as if I click on a program icon I want to use the program anyway but mixing running and non running programs is just confusing. I really like that task bar items can be moved though. That's nice.

One of the nicer things I've noticed is that Wordpad can read and write .docx (Word 2007) files. I really hope that stays in when they release it. That's a nice little feature. I'm not sure if it read advanced word files with special formatting and all that but basic text files is no problem.

What's everyone else's likes/dislikes of W7?

I use windows7 for graphics design work, Fireworks, photoshop, corel you name it I got it on windows 7. (not trials either).

I love it's load speeds, and bootup time aint bad, + sign in time is very nice also.

I agree, on the taskbar, it has a grouping issue with running and non-running tasks, which sucks in my opinion.

Now, 1 thing I do like and I've never used vista b4, is the windows update, running through your pc instead of IE.

+, I too have crashed the new IE, probably 8-10 times, now. but restarting takes more time, than a cold crash in XP. three, keys end program and you can open a new one in no time. In Windows 7, it's got to diagnose the problem.

Overall, I would buy as a OS!

I agree with Eddy. Only in one or two years I will use it.

I hope they get all the bugs out and make sure it runs quickly. Then ill be happy