RSSFirst beta of Windows 7 may (or may not) be handed out next Tuesday
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published December 3, 2008, 11:55 AM
As Microsoft's annual MSDN Developers' Conference nationwide tour begins next week, attendees will be among the first to receive a DVD of Windows 7 Beta 1, according to an online invitation the company posted yesterday.
Every year, Microsoft sends a handful of its most popular conference presenters on a nationwide tour, at special MSDN events that are usually held in small conference arenas or hotels, or sometimes rented movie theaters. Attendance is $99 for the one-day event, and with this tour, attendees are promised a big giveaway package that includes Windows 7 Beta 1.
Although Windows 7 Ultimate-branded DVDs were passed out at PDC in Los Angeles last October, these were not actual betas per se of the new operating system. Microsoft made no pretense of the fact that they were retooled editions of Windows Vista to give developers a glimpse of what they might see in Win7, even though the screen clearly brands the software on-screen as "Windows 7 Build 6801." Those disks were marked "Pre-release preview," and though BetaNews received its own along with everyone else, we were warned that much of the kernel in that build was actually Vista. Internal builds being tested at that time and since actually do contain new code, we were told.
So beginning next Tuesday, December 9, developers in the Houston area will be able to spend one day attending their choice of four sessions, and in so doing, will receive a copy of what Microsoft is officially calling "Windows 7 Beta 1." This will likely be the first official handout of a publicly-branded Win7 beta. This according to the company's official invitation posted yesterday.
Successive cities on the MSDN tour are Orlando, Florida (Dec. 11); Atlanta (December 16); Chicago (Jan 13); Minneapolis (also Jan. 13); Washington, DC (Jan. 16); New York City (Jan. 20); Boston (Jan. 22); Detroit (Jan. 22); Dallas (Jan. 26); and San Francisco (February 19).
2:32 pm EST December 3, 2008 - An astute BetaNews reader who apparently knew about reading the small print when it comes to announcements such as this, spotted a phrase in the "About" page for this year's MSDN conference tour, indicating that some attendees may not receive the Windows 7 beta on the day they attend."All attendees will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD. Attendees at events scheduled for December will have DVDs mailed to them when they become available," the notice reads. This suggests that Beta 1 may actually be released in January, which is when many existing testers had been told to expect it anyway.
Some builds have been available for a while.
I want to see everything an OS can do, Alpha and Beta builds rarely do.
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|Will DRM be ripped out of Win7? If not, then you might as well switch to that Apple crap and eat their new DRM-enabled hardware, too.
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|Wills till have WGA and the product keys. As always...
As for the support for DRM protected content, why exactly is this a bad thing?
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|I'm sure it will be "ripped out" as soon as the content providers stop requiring the use of it.
Some people would rather believe that the ability to play DRM-protected content is somehow holding their PC hostage, restricting them from doing all sorts of things, adversely affecting their lifestyle.
It's the content providers doing exactly that with their media. The playback device is simply enabling the ability to enjoy such content. DRM-enabled hardware/software wouldn't be necessary otherwise, and simply does not even become a factor if you're not even attempting to play back those types of media files in the first place.
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|I just sold my last Vista computer. If I purchase another one they can send me to the funny farm. Vista was a bad joke that Microsoft sold its customers. Many of them aren't laughing.
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|Not one single problem here with Vista from day 1. For me, this has been the most solid OS Microsoft has put out to date.
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|To _Hollywood:
If you install XP but then change the accounts you've created to be limited users shortly after installing it and then only log on as administrator to do updates/installs/uninstalls/configuration adjustments, then XP is pretty much as secure as Vista for the average user, and is certainly a good deal quicker.
You still need an antivirus etc and to stay up to date with patches, but that's true of Vista also.
My point is this - setting the user rights (which probably takes < 5 mins) makes a WORLD of difference.
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|My Vista(s) work fine, what do we need another version fo Windows for?
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|There are plenty of people (myself included) who considered XP to be just fine and did not see a need for Vista. Personally, I thought XP x64 was Microsoft's best performing and most stable desktop OS at the time.
That being said, I still prefer Vista. I'm sure I'll prefer Windows 7 when it arrives as well, no matter how much I currently love Vista Ultimate x64's stability and security benefits over XP.
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|I fired up my 2Ghz/512 Ram IBM T30 notebook with a fresh OEM WinXP Pro install the other night. XP is pathetic and antiquated compared to Vista.
Not only is it slower at everything but it feels like a 49 Packard compared to a ZR1 Vette. It's been so long since I had to use XP, I forgot how s***ty is actually is.
No real time protection, complete access to all registry keys from any program without warning. It's a virus and trojan magnet.
Vista is so much better. The ones who swear by XP should stick with it, until it's time to replace your computer. Once you use Vista for a while, you will see how back XP really sucks.
By all means, don't upgrade an XP machine to Vista, you are just asking for trouble.
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|By all means, don't upgrade an XP machine to Vista, you are just asking for trouble.
Not true i did it with zero troubles at all and it's never crashed yet
And if you want to remember how crappy XP realy was install a pre sp1 version.
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|Yeah I think windows 3.1 worked fine to, what did we need 95, 98, me, xp or vista for? I mean geesh, I also remember hearing 512mb of hard drive space? That's insane! or what about 16mb of ram or 64mb of ram or 128, or now 4gb of ram?
It's called progress, innovation, evolving, I do certainly hope that was a joke statement.
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|That 1969 Corvette was working fine.
What did they need to make a new version of it for?
See how absurd that sounds?
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|What did they make a new version of it for?
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|Seriously?
More power, better handling, more efficient body styling, why do any auto manufacturers make improvements to existing models?
Sure, for some it's to get out the next model and make more money, but they can't even do that without at least making _some_ improvements.
Not seriously?
For me to...
...
...
...
...drive. (You were thinking "Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, weren't you?)
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|Pah @ efficient.
You can't get a lovelier looking car
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|Of course you can.
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|It's a matter of opinion I suppose:
Would have thought you'd go with one of these* though.
*the original
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|Oh please...
http://images.google.co....&btnG=Search+Images
End of discussion. ;)
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|Hahahahaha
No.
That's an ugly beast.
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|You take that back! :)
I've always had a soft spot for Trans Ams, but only a very limited range of models.
Speaking of Corvettes though, the current Z06 would have to be the ultimate... but I am still a big fan of the older Stingrays.
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|Preaching to the choir about Vista's benefits over XP. :)
I will have to respectfully disagree with you though about upgrading XP to Vista. It leaves practically no trace of the previous OS after the process is complete. Zero problems on my end.
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|No style, at least not any that I'd be interested in.
Sure, the power is there, but it's ugly as sin.
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|The '63 Stingray was the height of design perfection. The split rear window made it exciting to back up when some of the area behind you was blocked from view.
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|So since Vista works fine for you, Microsoft should stop all development and progress on Windows? Are you in the right field?
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|excellent. I hope they have there new graphics feature called WARP included in this beta
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|OS/2 WARP? :)
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|i put the torrent on www.gotpcs4u.com u gotta register but i know its verfied (only works 30days with out key or 120 rearming it) but it works! with new taskbar unlocked and no water mark
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|$100??? I went to something like this for windows 2000 when it went gold and it was free, and they gave us free windows 2000 CD's.
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|I recall the same. The conference I attended was free of charge and we were given several pieces of software, including the Windows 2000 CTP.
I also dimly recall something similar when Windows NT was about to be released.
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|Are you thinking of a Microsoft Launch Event?
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|Beta 1 will not be coming until CES. The people at the 3 cites in December are going to be mailed their DVDs in mid-january.
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|Did you notice? BetaNews thinks you're astute. :)
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|At first I didn't know they were referring to me since I didn't really quote the fine print. I had just read it in another article.
But thanks Scott!
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|If what we received at PDC was nothing more than Vista with some fixes and gloss, then perhaps there is indeed hope for SP2.
The PDC version of Win7 I received was remarkably stable and far less problematic on most of the systems upon which I loaded it than even Vista SP1.
Perhaps there is some small hope for Vista yet.
This new build will definitely make it's rounds on these systems as well. Here's hoping I will be even more impressed than I was with 6801.
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|Win 7 is more than just Vista with fixes.
Win 2000 = Vista
XP = Win 7
Look at it that way. XP made 2000 perfect.. And in turn thats whats going to happen to Vista.
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|That _is_ indeed the hope.
The build made previously available to us at PDC, however was, as noted in the article, not much more than a tweaked version of Vista.
This is the version I was commenting on, and thus the basis for my hopes that Vista SP2 (an _actual_ version of Vista with fixes) might be just as good in terms of stability and reliability.
As for what's going to happen with Vista/Win7, we can only guess and hope until it comes to pass (or not). Saying, without any hesitation, that Win7 will perfect the Vista platform is quite ridiculous at this point. I can hesitate to guess quite reasonably that it will be better than Vista currently is, but only then because I am aware of the changes that have been made in the development process between the two.
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|That's what I'm expecting and why I'm waiting to upgrade from XP64 until 7 arrives.
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|Windows 2000 was and is a fantastic OS. For its time it was truly revolutionary, IMO
Windows XP became a great OS, after many fixes.
Vista Gold is and was crap.
Vista SP1 is OK, passable.
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|^This^
Windows 2000 was brilliant
Easily the OS I've had the least BSoDs with (excluding Vista - but that's not so good in other ways)
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|I can actually honestly say I have never had a BSOD with Vista.
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|Same here... at least on all of my PCs. Customer's PCs at my shop is a different story. There have been a handful there over a period of almost 2 years, but still far less than any other OS Microsoft has put out... except maybe for Windows 2000, as others have noted. That was indeed one rock solid OS, and interestingly enough, it was released with an incredible number of bugs.
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|I agree. 2000 used to make me smile with the way it would stand its ground. Very hard to crash. To me, XP was 2000 with bells and whistles, the XP GUI was PC for dummies.
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|My point was to debunk the mindset that Win 7 is just Vista with fixes. Since XP wasn't just Windows 2000 with fixes. It prepelled 2000 into the consumer space with alot more fit and finish that is needed in a consumer release.
While alot of people had no trouble with Vista RTM alot actually did and IMHO alot of it wasn't MS's fault. But that arguement has been beaten to death.
XP was a good OS "at the time". But, as evolution shows Vista is leaps and bounds more safer and a all around better OS. Win 7 just takes what made Vista so good and runs with it.
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|"Internal builds being tested at that time and since actually do contain new code, we were told."
You had to be told that? :P
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|It's PR "information". Quite mindless as most PR spin is. :)
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